Hollow Feelings
by Daricio
Summary: Why do you hate me so much?" With a scoff, the hollow gave Ichigo the obvious response: The King was weak. But deep inside, he knew the real answer. "Because you betrayed my trust in you... aibou..." Full story of Ichigo’s hollow. The true reason why.
1. Bad Endin in the Shaft

"_Any simple theory will be worded in the most complicated way possible." – one of Murphy's Laws._

Ha, ha, I'm going to kill myself with all the stories I keep making. XD Why? Why do I do this to myself? Why do I keep coming up with stories that require me to write so many battle scenes?? D=

Oh well, at least this one's _definitely_ a one shot (sort of), so now that it's done, it won't haunt me anymore.

I've been told that I need to have this in my author notes as a warning, so... **This is ****not**** a yaoi fic in any way, shape, or form. In fact, there is no romance whatsoever. There is also no swearing or other inappropriateness. Rejoice.**

Also, don't worry; as far as I know, there aren't any spoilers in this story, either for the manga or for Feeling Hollow... (Except for the epilogue). And you definitely don't have to have read Feeling Hollow for this to make sense. It's only _technically_ a prequel. In fact, mostly it's not.

Okay, so first, random story of the death of my laptop. RIP Daricio's laptop. It will be sorely missed. So, anyway, my laptop died. And as I was moping around, I suddenly realized that I had enough time on my hands to write something other than the stories I couldn't work on due to a dead computer... and I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while now... So, I started writing it in a blank notebook. Whee, now I have a full notebook. (No seriously, it only has three blank pages left... And that doesn't include the epilogue...)

(On a random note, if anyone has the romaji lyrics/translation to the song "Just Bleach" from the Bleach Beat Collection, that'd be totally awesome. That song pretty much inspired this for no reason other than the fact that it happened to be playing when I thought to write it. XD The song "Zan" also helped, cause Ichigo's hollow sings! =3)

Anyway. So, I started writing this. It was supposed to be just a short, one chapter thing that was **not** meant to be an actual story, but simply something to explain my views on a certain subject... But then it got long enough that I decided I'd better post it in separate chapters so that people didn't go "omg! 87 page chapter! I'm not reading that!"

And yes, it is that bad. So much for short...

But, yeah, it was meant to be read all at once. It won't make sense until you read the whole thing, so **please** don't give up after just reading the first chapter...

Well, I'd say more, but that'd just ruin the story, so read on. =P

It starts at the beginning...

* * *

"Why are you just standing there? Everything is falling apart! Pull me out!" the man shouted at him urgently.

Snapped out of his daze, Ichigo whirled around and grabbed the hilt of the zanpakutou that was sticking out of the small, white box. As hard as he could, he yanked, trying to get the sword to come out.

It refused to come.

Something deep within the box was holding tightly to it, sticking like glue. Despite Ichigo's greatest efforts, it wouldn't budge.

"It's stuck!" Ichigo cried at the man.

The man yelled something at him, but the sound of his voice was strangely distorted by the destruction going on all around them. The world shook furiously, and the hole leading back up to the buildings above them cracked open even further.

The buildings themselves were dissolving into more white boxes, and the number of them multiplied until white was almost the only thing Ichigo could see besides the sword hilt in his hands.

Ichigo's vision began to double as pain shot through his whole body, focused at his chest. Yelling, he pulled even harder, knowing what was happening. If this didn't work, if he couldn't get this sword out soon, he would become a hollow. He was already almost there; he could feel the pain of the transformation.

Panicked, he pulled even harder, sweat beading up on his forehead. To his relief, the sword seemed to break loose a little. Slowly, painfully slowly, it began to slide out, as if he was pulling it through thick mud.

There didn't seem to be much of anything left still standing in this world. Had he made it in time? _Would_ he make it in time? The sword still wasn't free, and the old man was yelling his name, and the pain suddenly doubled in intensity.

Screaming, Ichigo gave one final yank. Through his blurred vision, he saw the tip of the blade come free of the box; the sword was fully in his hands now. But the pain didn't stop. It coursed through his body as if he were on fire. Was he too late?

There was an explosion of energy; yellow and white and blue all around him. He could hardly believe it was possible, but the pain increased yet again to agonizing measures. Then the colors faded to grey, and then to black.

The pain ceased as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

Sensation returned to him slowly, in increments. Colors blurred into his vision, browns and blues and whites. Something dark lined the edges of his sight. As he watched, things began to focus, but it was like seeing the world through a pair of thick glasses.

He was standing, though he could feel his knees and ankles shaking and tingling as though he had just landed much too hard on them. He was swaying slightly, his body still in shock from the intense pain he'd been in.

There was still a dull ache in his chest, he noticed... and his vision didn't seem to be clearing any faster, though he could tell that he was apparently in the midst of a dust cloud of some sort, probably from the hard landing.

As the dust settled, he could hear a voice in the distance. Whoever it was sounded shocked and awed, but Ichigo couldn't make out what they were saying.

A new sensation came to Ichigo's attention then, and he froze in surprise. High spirit energy from multiple sources, very close by. The ache in his chest grew to a sudden desire.

Desire? For what? Relief? Satisfaction?

Hunger.

'_No! No, no, no, no!_' Ichigo wanted to scream, but something else seemed to be in control of his body. His arm lifted of its own volition, reaching for something above his right shoulder.

The dark around his vision made sudden, painful sense; a mask. This hunger he felt was the hunger of a hollow. He had failed. He had become a hollow after all.

Ichigo could already feel the instincts of a hollow beginning to take over his sanity. He wanted to relieve the pain he felt within! To attack the ones before him! To rip! To tear! He wanted to, needed to, couldn't stop himself!

His body began to move without him.

Ichigo panicked. NO. Not while he still had some sense left. This couldn't happen!

He had something hard and heavy in his hand now. It felt familiar, but he wasn't paying attention. Applying all of his strength, he forced his hand to swing down, smashing it into the mask.

It had to come off. It had to come off now. He wouldn't be a hollow. He wouldn't attack people. It had to come off.

His other hand came up and gripped the broken edge of the mask. Slowly, deliberately, he forced it to move, pushing upward and peeling it away from his face.

Abruptly, pain enveloped him again and he yelled silently, instinctively pulling away from the pain and trying to curl into a ball. For a moment, he thought he heard someone call his name, but then it didn't matter. Everything went dark again.

* * *

"Ichigo. Why did you run? Why have you not yet called upon me?"

Running. Somebody was running, fearing for their life, trying to escape death.

Still fuzzy from the blackness, Ichigo found himself laughing softly. Fear. What was there to fear?

The thought distracted him from the running. Fear. Was he afraid?

Yes, definitely. Hollows were born from fear; of course it was there. There was fear. A fear of death, a fear of weakness...

But the fear of _fear_ was gone. What more could fear do to him now? He laughed again.

"That which held you back before was the useless emotion of fear," a voice called through the darkness again. Vaguely, Ichigo recognized the voice as belonging to the old man, but there was nothing around him. He seemed to be floating in darkness.

He thought about what the old man was saying and laughed again. He could see now. As his inner world had been falling apart, he had been filled with fear, but that very fear was the force that had kept the zanpakutou stuck inside the box. He had destroyed himself with his fear of destruction.

He grinned. What more could fear do to him now?

"Cast your fear away. You have but one enemy, and you are also alone. What is there to fear?"

Ichigo frowned. He didn't think the old man was talking to him any more. Cast the fear away? Of course. Hadn't he done that when he'd broken away the mask?

The old man's next words shook him suddenly, forcing him to pay attention.

"Forget the fear. Look forward. Walk forward. Never ever stop." The old man's words were full of a strange power now, and getting more so as the one who had been running gained courage from them.

"Turning back will make you weak. Hesitate and you will die."

This was it! Ichigo's eyes were wide in the blackness as he waited. Something was coming now...

The old man's words rang out one last time. "Shout! My name is..."

And then, Ichigo knew that name. He _was_ that name. A sword. A faithful companion. A blade, cutting the very moon.

"_ZANGETSU!_"

He knew that name, knew the man that the name belonged to, almost as well as he knew himself. He knew the sword; _was_ the sword, just as much as he was himself.

Pure energy coursed through him then and he grinned in pleasure, thrilled at the sheer force that was Zangetsu's power. This much raw spirit energy, they should do _something_ with it...

"I hope you dodge," a faint voice (his own?) cut through the darkness, "because I don't think I can hold back."

And then, sight returned, and he was standing in a place filled with blues and browns. Zangetsu was in his hands and he raised it high. Focusing the energy he was now filled with, together with the old man, he let it fly as the sword came swinging down.

Getsuga Tenshou.

There was a yell. Laughter. And then his body gave out. Blackness and silence returned.

* * *

"Ichigo, stand." Zangetsu's voice pulled him from the darkness and, for the first time in what seemed like forever, Ichigo opened his eyes.

He was sitting on a window, back in the sideways world again.

Suddenly remembering having fallen before, he almost panicked again, but the thought was quickly pushed to one side. His mind had been breaking before; if he was a hollow now, he suspected that it wasn't going to get much worse in here...

He glanced around until he spotted Zangetsu, who was standing a short distance away, balanced lightly on the top of that flag pole again.

Slowly, Ichigo frowned. "Zangetsu-san, what...?" he trailed off, surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was higher than it used to be, with a strange, watery echo to it.

Hollow.

Anxiously, he glanced down at himself, worried about what he would find there.

White. White hands, white clothing, it was all white...

... White, but _human_. And wearing a Shinigami uniform, of all things, though the colors were reversed from usual. Human, not a monster with a mask.

Mask? Ichigo's hands shot up to his face and came into contact with soft skin, not a hard bone mask. Why had...? What was...?

Wide-eyed, he looked back up at Zangetsu. "What happened?" he asked in awe. "How am I...?"

Zangetsu watched him impassively. "You won. But you lost," he replied cryptically.

Ichigo rolled his eyes, but held back the sarcastic comment that was on the tip of his tongue. Trying to be patient, he waited for the sword to get to the point.

"Right as your inner world was collapsing, you pulled me out and regained your Shinigami powers successfully," Zangetsu clarified. "However, a part of you had already irreversibly become a hollow. At that time, your Shinigami and hollow halves split."

Ichigo examined one white hand with amusement. "And I'm the hollow half, huh?"

Zangetsu nodded. "Within your own mind, you appear this way. But outside, you truly have become a hollow."

Clenching his hand slowly, Ichigo pondered this. "So, now there are two Ichigos. Most of me was strong enough not to become a hollow... And now that side of me is a Shinigami..."

Unexpectedly, Ichigo laughed, opening his hand again and turning it over to study the other side. "But I'm the part that was too weak not to change."

Zangetsu gave him a calculating look, obviously surprised that he was laughing at this. "Are you not upset?"

"Upset?" Ichigo frowned up at him. "About what? Becoming a hollow? Of course I am. Not much I can do about it now, though. I am what I am."

Zangetsu's expression didn't change. "I meant the fact that you are now trapped here." At Ichigo's questioning look, he continued, "Your Shinigami half is currently in control of your body. Until that changes, you remain here, cut off from the outside world. Does this not bother you?"

Ichigo thought about that for a long time. Finally, he shrugged. "The other half of me is obviously stronger than me. Why shouldn't I be the one trapped?"

"You still have the potential for great strength, Ichigo."

"Hmm." Ichigo paused. "Then... No, don't call me that, Zangetsu-san... The one who deserves the name Ichigo is the one in control; the one who is _currently_ the stronger of the two of us."

Zangetsu just watched him with a neutral expression. "Call yourself what you wish, then... Hollow."

The name didn't sting like it probably should have. The hollow grinned. "I thought you'd say something like that. Which reminds me, Zangetsu-san... How _do_ I know you so well all of a sudden?"

Zangetsu frowned, not answering for a moment.

The hollow continued. "I mean, the other me, Ichigo, he knows your name, but he doesn't actually know you yet. But I know you well enough that I can even use your Getsuga Tenshou attack. Which is yet another name I know that you never actually told me."

Zangetsu paused, trying to think how to explain. "As a zanpakutou, Ichigo's zanpakutou, I represent a portion of Ichigo's inner power."

The hollow's head tilted in interest. "Only a portion of his power?"

"A portion of _your_ power, too," Zangetsu reminded him.

He shrugged that off. "So the other part of Ichigo's power is?"

"You know. It is the hollow powers that you now hold."

The hollow's mouth twisted into a smirk. "So, I know you because we both represent Ichigo's power," he guessed. "I know you because we are a part of each other."

Zangetsu nodded solemnly.

The hollow laughed. "So, what am I exactly, Zangetsu-san? Ichigo? A hollow? A sword?"

Zangetsu took a moment to answer. "You are you," he said finally.

"I am me?" The hollow thought about that and smiled. "All right. I can deal with that."

Zangetsu nodded again. "Good. Then, where do you go from here, hollow of Ichigo?"

The hollow looked up at him questioningly. "Go?"

"The other Ichigo is training, becoming stronger. What will you do?"

The hollow frowned, not sure how to answer. "Well... Like you said, Zangetsu-san. Look forward. Walk forward. Never ever stop. I'm not much good as I am. I know how weak I am right now. So, I suppose I should keep training to become stronger as well."

He paused for a moment, and then laughed. "Hey, maybe someday my stronger side will actually have need of the help of a hollow."

Zangetsu looked pleased at this statement. "Good. Then come." He held his hands open towards the hollow.

At first nothing happened, and then an odd feeling in the hollow's feet caused him to look down in surprise. He watched, strangely fascinated, as his feet began to dissolve from the bottom up, transforming into a fine dust, which then floated in Zangetsu's direction.

Fighting a rising, irrational panic, the hollow tried to keep his voice calm. "Z-Zangetsu-san?"

"You are a part of me," Zangetsu said, "as much as you are a part of Ichigo. You will gain more strength training within my mind, learning more of the sword you will wield."

The hollow laughed again. "The mind of a sword within the mind of its wielder is where, exactly?"

Zangetsu was apparently not about to engage in a philosophical discussion. He remained silent and the hollow snickered at him.

Something occurred to him, then. "Hey, if we're both parts of Ichigo's power, how come I'm a part of you, and not the other way around?" he asked, watching one hand disappear with a slight frown.

"Ichigo is currently more Shinigami than he is hollow," Zangetsu said simply. "The only way I would become a part of you would be if you were to become stronger than I am."

The hollow thought about that and smirked. "All right... I'll have to take you up on that one, Zangetsu-san."

Zangetsu smiled faintly. "We'll see if you can, hollow."

The hollow disappeared into Zangetsu's world.

* * *


	2. Blood Red Conflict

Ichigo was fighting again. The hollow stopped what he was doing and closed his eyes, hoping to be able to catch more of what was going on outside.

Zangetsu's world was, unsurprisingly, rather boring. Sure, the random blocks floating in a red nothingness was a little disconcerting at first... and the various things that would jump out of nowhere to attack him and teach him about his sword kept him awake and aware... But once he got past that, the place was downright dull.

He did know that being in here was helping him grow stronger. The random enemies weren't the only things teaching him about Zangetsu. Just being here was enough to let random facts sink into his consciousness.

And not just about Zangetsu, either. The hollow found it rather strange that names like Yoruichi and Ganju made sense to him after a while.

But it was still boring enough that whenever things from outside leaked through whatever link the hollow had with his other half, he always stopped everything else to pay attention. Ichigo's life was full of color and action—far more interesting than this.

It had started quite a while back as mixes of emotions in the air at random times; excitement, fear, triumph, defeat... The hollow guessed based off of this that the emotions only leaked through when Ichigo was fighting.

Eventually, an image or two would occasionally flash through his peripheral vision along with the feelings; stillshots of the battle through Ichigo's eyes, made clearer when the hollow's own eyes were closed. It was through these that the hollow discovered that Ichigo's opponent for these battles was always Urahara-san. Obviously, Ichigo was still training.

As time passed, the hollow wasn't sure exactly how long—it was impossible to tell in here, some of Ichigo's other senses sometimes came to him along with the images.

The feel of Zangetsu gripped tightly in his hands. The smell of dust and sweat. The taste of blood if Ichigo got knocked a little too hard. The ringing of blades clashing. Snippets of shouted conversation.

One overheard exclamation in particular had amused the hollow greatly: "I was under a _little_ bit of _pressure_ at the time! I don't remember _how_ I fired it!"

Then one day, Ichigo's opponent was, instead of Urahara, a giant of a man dressed in a Shinigami uniform, wielding two big axes. The battle was over quickly, with Ichigo as the clear victor, but it was enough for the hollow to guess that they'd traveled to Soul Society...

Soul Society, to rescue Rukia. Somehow, in here, training non-stop to gain strength for a chance to see the outside world again, Rukia seemed somehow... insignificant.

As he'd thought about that, he almost completely missed what happened next. Whatever it was, it happened too quickly for the hollow to see more than a glimpse, and then Ichigo was fighting again. This time, his opponent was a man with short, silver hair and a strange smile. And then, that battle was also over, far too quickly.

Ichigo transitioned out of battle mode, and what little had been coming through their link vanished completely. The hollow was left frustrated and confused, alone in Zangetsu's world with the word "Captain" echoing through his head.

Eventually, the hollow understood that Ichimaru Gin was a captain of the Shinigami, and that Yoruichi had warned them not to try fighting the captains.

Then, the next of Ichigo's battles was the most interesting he'd seen up to that point. For the first time, he was able to watch the fight through moving pictures instead of still images.

It was terrible quality. The pictures were fuzzy, and it jumped around sporadically, with constant periods of blackness. The sounds, smells, and feelings that went with the battle were rarely in sync with the images, either.

But it was better than nothing.

Of course, Ichigo's opponent made things even more interesting. That Madarame Ikkaku guy had looked like he'd be fun to fight with. Ichigo definitely seemed to have been enjoying the battle, though for some reason that the hollow couldn't understand, he kept pushing that thought away.

Almost immediately after that battle, Ichigo had spent a short time leading a whole bunch of Shinigami running around in circles for no reason... That had been amusing to watch, and he had been sorry when his 'vision' went dark again...

But now, Ichigo was fighting again, and the hollow's view of it seemed to have improved a little once again. Not much, but a little.

Ichigo's opponent was none other than Abarai Renji, the red-headed vice captain who had been with Kuchiki Byakuya when they'd come to the real world and beaten him into the ground...

... Beaten him...? Or beaten Ichigo? The thought made the hollow pause, going over the memory slowly with a sudden frown.

The hollow's memories of events that had occurred before he'd become a hollow seemed almost strange to him now, he noted. They _were_ his memories, because despite what he told Zangetsu and despite being a hollow now, he _was_ still Ichigo...

But at the same time, he saw things differently now, as a hollow, than he'd ever thought about them before. The memories of his previous actions and reasonings seemed almost foreign to him. They were Ichigo's memories, much more than they were his own.

The hollow pushed the thought to the back of his mind to contemplate later. Right now, Ichigo was fighting again, and that was far more interesting.

Renji had already released his sword as the hollow tried to assess the battle. Ichigo's main problem with this guy was going to be getting in close enough to deal damage without getting hit. He already knew from experience that he did not want Renji's sword to even touch him; the thing was _designed_ for maximum pain per hit.

The next big problem would be the strength that Renji had gained since the last time they'd fought. Something about a spirit energy limiter he'd had in the real world, plus the fact that Renji had more room here to swing his sword than the cramped street had given him before...

Renji's first attack had shoved Ichigo straight through the wall of one of the surrounding buildings. Now, he was mostly trying to dodge Renji's continued attacks, all with swaying feet and doubling vision. Which had mildly irritated the hollow. As if his 'view' of the battle wasn't already bad enough.

Ichigo was actually doing a pretty good job of getting out of the way, jumping up onto the rooftops of the surrounding buildings and executing some pretty impressive rolls considering how much effort it'd been taking just to stand a while ago.

"Quit being so stubborn!" Renji yelled at him in frustration. The hollow was pleased to note that his voice was actually in sync with the picture he was receiving for once. "You really want to save Rukia that badly?"

Breathing hard, Ichigo glared up at him. "Idiot," he called. "I don't just _want_ to save her. I'm _going_ to save her!"

That just made Renji madder. "Not a chance!" Angrily, he sent his sword, Zabimaru, flying out at Ichigo again.

Ichigo pulled Zangetsu up to defend, but Zabimaru was hitting heavily enough to bounce. One after another, the hooked sections of the blade ricocheted off the flat of his sword and cut shallowly into his right shoulder as they flew past.

Pain shot through the hollow's arm suddenly and he instinctively jerked away, his eyes flying open in surprise. Had one of Zangetsu's random enemies snuck up on him while he hadn't been paying attention?

Glancing around quickly, he noted that there was no one in sight and he took the opportunity to look down at himself to assess the damage.

There was nothing. Not even his clothing was torn. In fact, there was... no pain, either.

Confused, the hollow absently rubbed his shoulder. What was...?

Ichigo.

Of course. Ichigo had just gotten hit there, and the hollow had momentarily felt his pain. It was an _obvious_ sensation that he hadn't even noticed was missing from these flashes until it was there again. He wondered briefly why he hadn't felt pain from Ichigo before...

Flinching away so suddenly had broken his connection with his other half, and now the hollow saw nothing but Zangetsu's strange world.

For a moment, he hesitated. Seeing the outside world now held a price; If Ichigo got hurt...

He could have kicked himself for the cowardly thought. He was a _hollow_. He could take a little pain. Scoffing lightly at himself, he closed his eyes, searching for the battle again.

It took a moment, but slowly, images began seeping through the connection, followed by sound; the end of the conversation that the hollow had missed the middle of: "You think I don't know that?! That's _why_ I gotta save her!"

Ichigo had already shrugged off the shallow wound; it had hardly even registered to him as he'd argued with Renji.

The hollow tried to convince himself that he could have shrugged it off too if he hadn't been caught off guard by it, but the words sounded hollow, even to himself. ... And then he laughed at the horrible pun.

Ichigo, meanwhile, was thinking of far more useful things; he'd figured out a pattern to Renji's attacks and was forming a counterstrategy.

He ran suddenly at Renji, Zangetsu held ready. With an angry yell, Renji swung Zabimaru forward. Ichigo jumped to one side and the blade sections flew by him. "_Once..._" He continued running straight at his opponent.

Zabimaru flashed by again, this time barely missing Ichigo's other side. "_Twice..._"

The hollow understood; there was a maximum number of times that Renji could lash out with Zabimaru before it had to return briefly to a sword form.

"_Three times!_" Ichigo blocked the last one directly with Zangetsu. As Renji's sword began clinking back together, Ichigo dashed the remaining distance between them.

Leaping into the air, he yelled, "It's over, Renji!"

For a moment, Renji looked surprised at Ichigo's sudden attack. And then his expression hardened. The hollow realized just a split second too late what was about to happen.

Renji dodged.

Now, Ichigo was the one in a vulnerable position, one that he couldn't pull out of. Renji had Zabimaru raised to attack. Time seemed to slow...

"No!" The hollow panicked, knowing that whatever pain Ichigo felt, he would feel too. And this time, he couldn't just pull away to avoid the pain, either. If Renji put his full force into that swing, this battle would be over. Ichigo would definitely die.

There was no thought; only instinct.

He had to do something to help. He was still far too weak to take control. He wouldn't have been able to do anything more than Ichigo was already doing even if he was strong enough. What Ichigo needed was a heavy shield, and he needed it right now.

Technically, none of the hollow powers that he could actually use at the moment were very shield-like, but if he put enough power into the mask itself, maybe...

Time sped up again. Zabimaru slammed down onto Ichigo's shoulder, sending blood flying upward from the deep wound it was making despite the mask's sudden presence.

Renji grinned. "I told you; you don't have a one in a million chance of beating me."

Ichigo was frozen from the shock of it. "_He... dodged?_" he thought numbly, mentally reeling from the blow.

The hollow was in shock too, but not from Renji's move, or even from the immense pain of the sword still lodged in Ichigo's shoulder. He was in shock... because suddenly, he could _see_.

He'd thought that he could see before, but now he could _see_, really see! It was like changing from moonlight to true daylight.

Before, he'd had sight. He'd had sound. He'd had touch. He'd had feelings, smells, taste, and occasional snippets of Ichigo's thoughts. But now, because of the mask, he had all of them together, clearer. As if someone had taken a jigsaw puzzle and suddenly put all the pieces together in a coherent shape for him.

Ichigo was still in control, obviously. The hollow hadn't suddenly become _that_ powerful for no reason...

But where before he'd been merely watching his stronger side, now it felt almost as if he himself was standing there.

His feet were in contact with the cracked surface of the paved road. His hands were gripped tightly around the hilt of his sword. He could hear Hanatarou and Ganju behind him, crying out in disbelief. He could see Renji just off to his left side, a triumphant smirk still on his face. He could feel...

And then, Renji very nicely reminded him exactly _why_ being hyper-aware of his surroundings right now could be a _bad_ thing. He yanked down on Zabimaru, cutting further into Ichigo's shoulder and sliding the hooked blade down across his chest.

Pain. The mask cracked down the middle as the blade tore through Ichigo's flesh. The hollow felt pain from both sides; Ichigo's and his own, doubled together. Alone within Zangetsu's world, he couldn't stop himself from screaming.

Ichigo dropped to his knees, his face still set in an expression of stunned shock. His whole torso and left arm felt like they were on fire from the pain, and his head was throbbing. "_How...?_"

"You look like you can't figure out how I dodged your attack." For once, Renji didn't sound like he was bragging; just stating fact. "Going for the gap between attacks is a good idea. Your timing was perfect, too. So why didn't it work?"

When Ichigo didn't answer, Renji continued solemnly. "There's only one answer... It's because you're slower than I am."

The words hit Ichigo hard. "_Slow...? But how...?_" The pain was so great that he could barely even think straight.

Renji nodded. "The unbridgeable gap between my power and yours is just that, plain and simple. You understand now? _You_ can't rescue Rukia." Renji almost sounded... disappointed by this.

Unhurriedly, he raised Zabimaru above his head like an executioner, ready to bring it crashing down on Ichigo's head.

Ichigo stared blankly up at him, unable to do much more through the fog of the pain. "_Move..._" he thought at himself urgently. Despite this, his body wasn't responding to his efforts. "_Move!_"

The hollow couldn't do anything either. He was still too weak to take over, too weak to help. Too weak.

Zabimaru began to swing down. Ganju and Hanatarou both yelled his name. This was it, it was almost over.

Ichigo was finally able to force himself to move, and he barely avoided the hooked blade. It smashed into the ground beside him, sending dust and debris flying everywhere. Ichigo winced as several pieces of concrete made contact with his face and his wounds.

When the dust cleared enough for Renji to see that he'd missed, he scowled at Ichigo. "Stubborn right to the very end, aren't you?"

Ganju and Hanatarou were yelling something at him, but Ichigo wasn't paying attention to them, or even to Renji. Instead, he was suddenly remembering one of his training sessions with Urahara.

The hollow was fascinated, for multiple reasons. The first being that it was amazing how in sync the hollow mask's existence made him with his other half. As Ichigo thought back on the experience, the hollow could see it too, quite clearly.

The other reason was that he hadn't actually seen this before. This memory was from a point after the hollow had been created, but now he was seeing it as if he'd never missed it.

Urahara had obviously been trying to get Ichigo to be able to fire off his Getsuga Tenshou attack again. The hollow even got to hear the entirety of a conversation that he'd only heard part of before, which was interesting.

The part of the training session that Ichigo was remembering, though, was something that Urahara had told him right at the end.

"_I'm disappointed in you, Ichigo." Urahara was frowning at him now. "Your sword tells me nothing but fear."_

_Ichigo glanced down at Zangetsu, not sure what Urahara was talking about. The sword speaks of fear...?_

"_I can see from the way you use your sword what you are thinking as you move," Urahara clarified. "When you dodge my attacks, you're 'afraid of getting cut'. When you're attacking, you're 'afraid of cutting me'. When you're protecting someone, you're 'afraid of them dying'. Your sword speaks to me only of meaningless fear."_

_Ichigo scowled, feeling an irrational burst of anger. Old man Zangetsu had said the same thing... but casting off fear was easier said than done!_

_Urahara was watching him carefully. "Never give in to fear during a fight. Fear will never help you." Slowly, he lifted his sword, Benihime, up into the air and held it above his head. The air around him became charged with spirit energy, sending the dust flying around him dramatically. "Do you see what is reflected in my sword? Do you see my intent to cut you?"_

_As if to emphasize his words, his sword began to glow red. Ichigo stared at him in wonder as he continued to speak. "Change your mindset, Ichigo. When you're dodging, you think, 'I won't _let _you cut me'. When you're protecting someone, you think, 'I won't _let_ you die'. And when you attack, you think... '_I will cut you_!'"_

_Ichigo's expression hardened and he lifted Zangetsu above his head, pushing spirit energy into the blade in a mimic of what Urahara was doing. Okay. He could think that way, too._

_Urahara grinned at him. "Now you've got it... The resolve that you need."_

_They stood that way for a moment, each of them standing with their swords in the air, literally glowing with the amount of spirit energy they were using. And then, they both moved._

_Ichigo focused, his resolve firm, and he swung Zangetsu down, at the same time Urahara swung Benihime. Bursts of energy from the two swords clashed like a tempest, carving large canyons into the ground below._

The hollow smirked. So Ichigo had been able to use Getsuga Tenshou himself after all...

And now he planned on using it again. Focusing hard, Ichigo forced his fear away and looked up at Renji again. "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Renji. This... is my full strength." He raised Zangetsu high above his head.

Renji looked surprised at Ichigo's steadily rising spirit energy. With a yell, he whipped Zabimaru out towards Ichigo again.

He was too late. Ichigo released the energy attack, swinging Zangetsu down sharply. The attack made contact with Renji's extended sword and cut right through it, continuing on to slam into his chest. Renji sailed through the air and hit a pile of rubble several feet back.

Exhausted and in pain, Ichigo watched Renji warily, but the other didn't seem like he was going to keep attacking any time soon. He had a large gash across his chest that was as bad, if not worse, than the one Ichigo had, and his sword was broken almost at the hilt. His hair had come out of its ponytail and was now hanging in his face, obscuring his expression.

There was a pause as everyone absorbed what had just happened, and then Renji broke the silence, looking up to the sky and yelling in anguish. He knew he couldn't go on fighting. He was done.

Ichigo swayed on his feet for a moment, trying to decide whether or not he could just let himself drop now. Renji wasn't going to attack any more, and Ganju and Hanatarou were still hanging around somewhere...

Renji spoke up again unexpectedly, so quietly that Ichigo almost didn't hear him. He blinked at him, forcing himself to pay attention to the other's words.

Briefly, Renji told Ichigo how he had met and grown up with Rukia in Rukongai, and what had happened when the Kuchiki family had decided to adopt her. He explained his desire to prove his worth to Kuchiki Byakuya, and eventually deserve to be friends with her again.

As he spoke, his words grew stronger, and he slowly got to his feet, staggering towards him. Ichigo was mildly worried about that at first, but that faded as he realized that Renji had left the broken remains of his sword at the base of the pile of rubble. He wasn't going to attack, just talk.

When he was close enough, he grabbed the front of Ichigo's uniform, partly to seem threatening and partly to keep himself from falling before he could finish speaking. As he did this, his hand brushed up against the concealed hollow mask, but the hollow doubted that he had actually noticed.

"I've never won against Kuchiki-taichou," Renji informed Ichigo angrily. "I've trained every day since Rukia left, but he's always been beyond my reach. He's just too strong. I want to save Rukia, but fighting to get her back is nothing but an impossible dream to me."

The hollow laughed dryly to himself. The whole time, Renji could have been _helping_ Ichigo rescue Rukia. They could have worked together and had a chance at winning, but now _both _of them were too torn up to do much of anything. If anyone else were to show up right now...

"Renji, you're an idiot," the hollow hissed softly, even though nobody would be able to hear him from in here. "'If you can't even beat me, then you'll never beat Byakuya'... That's such a stupid mindset!"

"Kurosaki... I'm probably shameless for asking this, but... Please. You have to save Rukia!" Renji shouted helplessly at him.

Ichigo blinked down at him, a tired look on his face. "Yeah," he agreed after a moment.

"Idiot," the hollow repeated in disgust.

For a long moment, the two of them stood there, breathing heavily and attempting to stay conscious. Eventually, though, Renji's fingers loosened and he crumpled onto the ground.

Ichigo watched him silently as his vision doubled and blurred. He let his eyes fall shut, and then he also toppled forward.

Ganju yelled his name, and running footsteps indicated that he and Hanatarou were running towards him. "Oi! Ichigo! Are you all right?" Ganju asked worriedly, shaking him lightly.

The hollow had to laugh at the irony of the situation. Ichigo was unconscious; that much was obvious. And his 'view' of the scene outside _should_ have faded along with Ichigo's...

However, the hollow mask was still there, hidden beneath Ichigo's clothes, and so the hollow's link to the outside world was just as clear as if Ichigo were still there. With the exception of sight, obviously. Ichigo's eyes were closed, so the hollow saw nothing. But his other senses were all functioning just fine.

Which, of course, meant that while Ichigo now felt nothing, the hollow felt _everything_, including the pain.

He couldn't pull away from it, either. If he stopped concentrating on the mask, it would disappear, and that would break his connection to outside. While he hated the pain, he hated the isolation even more. He needed the mask to stay there.

"Someone's coming!" he heard Hanatarou say worriedly. "Three people... no, four... maybe even five!"

Ganju picked Ichigo up and slung him forcefully over one shoulder, sending fire racing through all of his wounds. "If too many people show up, there'll be trouble," he said needlessly.

If the hollow could have rolled his eyes, he would have. _That_ wasn't the most obvious statement in the world. Stupid Renji...

"Let's get out of here." Ganju began to run, not even trying to be gentle with what he was carrying. The hollow shuddered at the pain that was everywhere now.

It had been ignorable before. There had been other things to concentrate on, like dodging, attacking, or even just listening to Renji talk. Now, though, there was nothing but the sound of heavy breathing, loud footsteps, and the feel of the pain, made worse with each step Ganju took.

There weren't enough _words_ for pain, the hollow decided. There were plenty of words to describe pain; agonizing, excruciating, racking, torturous, and so on... But there was still only the one word for pain. That almost didn't seem fair...

Slowly, the hollow forced himself to open his eyes, back in Zangetsu's world. He was trying his hardest to keep up that connection with the mask, but he had to try something to lessen the pain.

He was a little surprised to find himself on his hands and knees, his fingers digging trenches into the ground and Zangetsu lying several feet away from him. He didn't remember having actually moved during all that, but he supposed that it shouldn't be that much of a surprise; he'd been a little distracted, after all.

Still focusing on the mask in the back of his mind, the hollow got to his feet, picking up Zangetsu as he did so.

The pain wasn't what made moving difficult. He, himself, was uninjured, so moving around didn't make the pain flare up any more than it already was. That made the pain easy to ignore, and it was already receding, filtering away to the edges of his awareness.

No, it was simply difficult to concentrate on moving and seeing the world around him while keeping that image of the hollow mask firmly in his mind. His movements were slow and deliberate.

He laughed a little. He'd be fine, just as long as Zangetsu didn't pick that moment to send another of his random opponents at him.

Movement caught his eye and his laughter cut off suddenly. No, he didn't...

A lone figure in the distance was jumping from block to block towards him. A sheathed sword was held loosely in one hand.

The hollow grinned shakily, lifting Zangetsu in preparation for battle. Just great... This should be interesting, trying to fight while he was being distracted by so many things.

Zangetsu's random opponents were usually people that Ichigo had fought before; people who had somehow gained his respect during the battle. These ranged from old school bullies to random hollows, and even occasionally Urahara.

This opponent was no exception; Madarame Ikkaku landed easily on the large block where he now stood and began to walk towards him, his sheathed sword resting across both shoulders.

"Yo, Ichigo!" Ikkaku called cheerfully with a smirk. "Havin' problems, are ya?"

The hollow ignored the question. "Don't call me that. I'm not Ichigo."

Most of Zangetsu's opponents did this, and it always bothered him. He wasn't sure exactly _what _these opponents were, but he suspected that old man Zangetsu was in control of the things they did and said.

So while the zanpakutou wouldn't directly call him Ichigo, these guys still continued to do it. He suspected that Zangetsu was trying to get a point across without actually going against what the hollow had asked.

The name particularly bothered him now, when he was still so closely linked with his other self. He wasn't Ichigo anymore, even if his zanpakutou still seemed to think he was...

Ikkaku merely shrugged at him and examined him critically. "You're not ready to fight, Ichigo," he observed.

The hollow's hands tightened on Zangetsu's hilt and he smirked. "Ready? What are you talking about?"

Ikkaku grinned, still not making a move to unsheathe his sword. "Your mind's not here yet," he accused. "Still focused on outside insteada here and now. Ain't what's happenin' here interestin' enough for ya?"

The hollow opened his mouth to protest but, as if to prove Ikkaku right, Ganju suddenly flipped Ichigo off of his shoulder, laying him down roughly on a hard, uncomfortable surface. The hollow winced as the pain flared up again.

"That guy's not fightin' anymore," Ikkaku observed with a smirk. "Let it go. You should focus on your trainin'."

Gritting his teeth, the hollow swung Zangetsu at him angrily. "I _am_ focused. I can fight!"

Ikkaku moved to one side to dodge the blow, and then stepped around him, hitting him sharply on the back of the head with his still-sheathed sword. "You're thinkin' too much, Ichigo!" he laughed. "You coulda blocked that just now, but you didn't! Why?"

The hollow frowned at him, turning and raising Zangetsu again slowly. He was right; it was difficult to concentrate on quick movements with most of his attention still on the mask. If he wanted to continue training, he'd have to push his awareness of outside to the back of his mind and ignore the things that were happening to Ichigo. But he refused to give up the mask!

As if to taunt him, Hanatarou's words came to him from outside. The boy was obviously talking to Ganju, but he heard him just the same, and the words were distracting. "Don't worry. I'll heal him. I just need one night, and I can completely heal him."

Shaking his head, he forced himself to focus back on his opponent.

Ikkaku smirked at him and finally unsheathed his sword, deliberately moving slowly so that the hollow could see his movement. The hollow narrowed his eyes, getting his point. If he didn't start taking this seriously, he was going to get cut.

"Don't act so tense!" Ikkaku called to him with a grin. He fell easily into a battle stance with his sword in one hand and the sheath in the other. "Have some fun! And forget outside! We're fightin' here and now!"

Ikkaku leapt suddenly at him, his sword now glinting dangerously. The hollow quickly brought Zangetsu up to defend, and several blows were exchanged.

The hollow was hard-pressed both to keep his opponent from hitting him and to get any hits in himself. The other's strange method of using the sheath to defend while he used his sword to attack was very effective.

Eventually Ikkaku backed off a little and the hollow's thoughts flew back to the mask. He panicked a little as he realized that his perceptions of outside weren't there anymore. Had he lost the mask? Had it...

No, never mind; it was still there. He could still hear Hanatarou talking softly to Ganju. It was quieter than it was before, but now that he thought about it, he realized that his 'view' of outside had probably dimmed because Hanatarou had taken the mask off of Ichigo and set it out of the way. Now, Hanatarou was-

Ikkaku attacked again, catching the hollow sharply on the arm before he could bring Zangetsu up again. "You're thinkin' too much, Ichigo!" he called again.

Caught off guard, the hollow frantically swung at him and Ikkaku jumped back out of the way with a laugh.

"I'm not letting go of it!" the hollow insisted, ignoring the shallow cut on his arm and readying Zangetsu again. He grinned. "This is not a problem. It's just my handicap, so that I don't beat you too fast!"

Ikkaku laughed again. "That's one way to see it," he said easily. "Guess I shouldn' take ya lightly, then. Time to get serious. Extend! Houzukimaru!"

He snapped the edges of his sword and sheath together, releasing the sword into his tri-sectional spear and quickly moving to an attack stance. "Don't be makin' this too easy for me! Let's go!"

The hollow smirked and attacked, running at Ikkaku and swinging Zangetsu hard.

He couldn't help but to grin as they fought. It wasn't as though he didn't want to fight, after all; it was just hard to while keeping his attention on the mask. And if Zangetsu's portrayal of this guy's fighting ability (or however that worked) was accurate, then his earlier assumption that he'd be fun to fight against had been right.

It didn't take long before the hollow was totally into the fight, dodging this way and that, and keeping Ikkaku on his guard as well. It was an intricate, dangerous dance that the hollow reveled in...

Ikkaku smirked as he dodged the next blow. "See, now we're havin' some fun, Ichigo! You've finally stopped thinkin' so much!" He flipped his spear around and jabbed it at the hollow again before continuing. "How's outside lookin' now?"

Surprise spread across the hollow's face as he backed off suddenly, putting some distance between the two of them again. How had he forgotten so fast? He'd gotten caught up in the battle and he'd forgotten about the mask!

Cursing his stupidity, he shut his eyes again, searching for the outside world, hardly daring to hope that it'd still be in his reach...

It was still there. The mask was still in existence, still lying where Hanatarou had placed it earlier, several feet away from where he was hard at work trying to heal Ichigo's wounds.

Ikkaku began to walk towards him again, drawing his attention back to the inner world. He had a confident smirk on his face as he slung his spear across his shoulders and casually held it there with both wrists. "See? What'd I tell ya? You're thinkin' too much..."

The hollow slowly realized what he was getting at. "It won't disappear unless I will it to, or if it gets destroyed," he concluded. "I don't have to keep paying attention to it."

Ikkaku laughed. "Now you're catchin' on."

"And, of course, you couldn't have just _told_ me this," the hollow grit out sarcastically, smirking to try to hide the fact that he was shaking from the sudden panic he'd felt. "Jerk."

Ikkaku grinned at him. "Of course. What woulda been the fun in just tellin' ya?" With that said, he turned and began to walk away. Apparently, this 'session' of training was over...

For a moment, the hollow hesitated. Then, he stopped him with a call of, "Hey!"

The other stopped and glanced back at him, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah?"

"Something's been bothering me about all this," the hollow admitted thoughtfully. "And I'm not sure exactly what you are, but maybe you can tell me something about Zangetsu-san..."

Ikkaku shrugged. "Depends on what you wanna know."

The hollow pieced his words together carefully. Asking Zangetsu's 'puppet' questions about Zangetsu was, as far as he knew, exactly the same as asking Zangetsu himself. It was difficult to tell which questions would offend him, and it would be even more difficult to tell if Ikkaku was telling the truth...

Finally, he spoke. "Zangetsu-san is a zanpakutou. A sword wielded by a Shinigami... so I can see why he would want Ichigo to be as strong as he can possibly be... But why would a Shinigami's zanpakutou have any reason to make a hollow become strong?"

Ikkaku frowned. "What're you talkin' about?"

"I mean me, obviously," the hollow clarified. "Why does he bother helping me, even with something like this that I would have figured out sooner or later anyway?"

Ikkaku thought about this for a moment, and then he sighed, looking up at the floating blocks above them thoughtfully. "You're still Ichigo," he said eventually. "Or a part of him, anyway. No matter how strong your Shinigami self becomes, if there were a part of himself deep inside that kept bein' weak, he'd never reach his full potential."

The hollow shook his head. He'd already thought of that. "Seems like a risky move to me. What'll happen if I become stronger than Ichigo? A zanpakutou has no need to serve a hollow."

Ikkaku just smirked. "It's a fine line we tread," he agreed. Slowly, he turned and began to walk away again. "But, in the end, you _are_ still Ichigo. And Zangetsu respects you as his master just as much as he does your other half. You'll understand eventually."

With that, the other was gone, leaving the hollow behind to contemplate his words and watch Hanatarou tend to Ichigo...

* * *

The hollow was distracted from his training again by someone picking up the hollow mask and turning it over slowly. Ichigo was still out, and it was sort of odd not being able to see or physically feel the mask and yet still know when someone was holding it.

Ichigo had actually woken up briefly several hours ago. He'd been a little delirious at the time and he had tried to get up and walk off, muttering something about finding Chad and Ishida or something silly like that. Ganju had put a quick halt to that attempt with a hard punch to the head.

Hanatarou hadn't been too happy with that, and neither had the hollow, to be honest, but he didn't complain further after Ganju threatened to hit him too. Hanatarou had gone back to bandaging Ichigo up, and eventually, Ganju had wandered off around the corner again.

Now, apparently, Hanatarou was finished with whatever he'd been doing to heal Ichigo and had turned his attention to examining the mask.

The hollow couldn't help but wonder what Hanatarou thought about it. It was, after all, a hollow mask, and that wasn't something that one usually found shielding a Shinigami... He wouldn't be surprised if the small Shinigami had some misgivings about it.

Ichigo stirred a little and the hollow smirked. Well, he'd find out pretty soon; Hanatarou was too polite not to return the mask to Ichigo, and he'd probably want to ask him a few questions about it.

With a groan, Ichigo attempted to push himself into a sitting position, his various wounds protesting loudly against the motion.

As soon as Hanatarou was aware of Ichigo's movements, he abruptly dropped the mask and went to his side, helping him sit up. "Ichigo-san, you're awake?"

Ichigo scowled and brought one hand up to rub his face where Ganju had hit him earlier. "Gah... Ganju, you jerk..."

Hanatarou laughed nervously. "You remember that, huh?"

"Like I'd forget... Ow..." It didn't really hurt, but Ichigo was good at holding petty grudges like this.

With a hesitant smile, Hanatarou continued. "Still, I'm glad Ganju-san stopped you... Otherwise, you'd be bleeding again..."

Ichigo sighed. "Yeah. Sorry. I shouldn't have tried to get up."

"That's all right," Hanatarou reassured him. "You should probably lie down for a while longer, actually. You're not fully healed yet, and it's still dark outside anyway..."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, okay..."

For a moment, he sat in silence, not quite wanting to lie back down yet. Thoughts of what he still needed to do as soon as he was healed enough began running through his head. The hollow listened interestedly.

"_From what Renji said, I'm probably going to run into, at the very least, more vice-captains before I can get to Rukia, if not captains. Yoruichi said to avoid captain level opponents, but I'll just have to deal with that. After all, Kuchiki Byakuya's a captain, and I'm going to have to defeat him if I want to get Rukia out of here. Renji will probably be willing to help now, if he's not already dead._"

Ichigo found that to be a disquieting thought. With a frown, he turned back to Hanatarou. "Hey, what about Renji? How's he doing?"

The question caught Hanatarou off guard. "Eh? Oh, well, I don't really know exactly... All I can say is he's probably not dead. There were people arriving as we left, and if standard procedure was followed, he'll be receiving treatment from a special fourth division squad..."

Ichigo nodded silently. "_So Renji will make it. And I can probably count on him to help if he can._"

A long moment passed as the two of them thought about this, and then Ichigo sighed, shifting so that he could lie down again.

As he did so, he spotted a flash of white out of the corner of his eye and he paused, glancing over. The hollow went still as he realized that he'd noticed the mask...

Reaching out, Ichigo picked it up lightly, looking it over with a frown. At his touch, the hollow's 'vision' cleared again.

Unlike with Hanatarou, the hollow didn't have to wonder what thoughts were going through Ichigo's head. He had full access to feelings of confusion at the mask's existence and a mild disquiet over its appearance.

The hollow watched hesitantly. So far, no hostility; just curiosity...

"What is this?" Ichigo asked Hanatarou, turning the mask over in his hands.

Hanatarou was visibly surprised by the question. "What? I... Actually, I was kind of hoping you'd tell _me_ that, Ichigo-san... I found it while I was healing you."

"Found it," Ichigo repeated, glancing up at Hanatarou with a confused frown. "Where? On me?"

Hanatarou nodded, gesturing towards the bandaged wound on Ichigo's left shoulder. "Yes. It was there, and apparently it took the worst of the hit..."

Ichigo ran his fingers over the cracks in the top of the mask, realizing suddenly that they were from Renji's sword. "It was shielding me?"

The hollow blinked as, at the words, Ichigo's thoughts abruptly changed to gratitude and a vague concern for whoever had put it there.

"I guess I've got someone looking out for me..." Ichigo mused.

The hollow couldn't help but feel smugly pleased at Ichigo's words. Got that one right.

Hanatarou looked less than convinced of that. "Ichigo-san, I think you should get rid of that thing."

Ichigo stared at him in surprise, not so much from his words but because of the force with which the normally quiet, hesitant boy had spoken them. "What? Why? It saved me, didn't it? I should hang on to it... for a good luck charm if nothing else."

Hanatarou gently tugged the mask out of Ichigo's grasp and frowned down at it. "It's just... Maybe it's nothing, but... It just looks so much like a _hollow's_ mask. It's kind of creepy, and it gives me a bad feeling..."

Ichigo frowned as well, reaching to take the mask back. "But how can it be bad if it was protecting me?"

Hanatarou pulled away from Ichigo, not letting him take it. "This thing's evil, Ichigo-san!" he insisted.

"You don't know that!" Ichigo protested. "I want to keep it!"

"No! I don't care! I won't let you!" Hanatarou shook his head, turned, and threw the mask as hard as he could at the water.

Ichigo and the hollow both cried out in dismay. Ichigo lunged to try to catch it, but it was too late. The mask disappeared below the surface of the murky water with a light splash, sinking quickly to the bottom.

"Hanatarou! Why would you-"

The hollow scowled as the sound faded away from his perceptions. Ichigo no longer had possession of the mask, so the link wasn't as firm as before. When the images began to fade too, he let out a scream of frustration, angrily dissolving the mask and unsheathing Zangetsu again.

"It wasn't _yours_!" he yelled at nobody, swinging his sword several times through the empty air to accent his words. "You had no right! He wanted to _keep_ it!"

That brought him up short and he paused, breathing heavily. A grin spread slowly across his face. "He wanted to keep it," he repeated in slight wonder. "He knew what it was, but he wanted to keep it..."

Well, that probably wasn't strictly true. Ichigo knew that it _looked_ like a hollow mask, but he hadn't been able to tell if he thought it actually was one.

Even so, who cared if Hanatarou had thrown it away? Ichigo hadn't seemed bothered by the mask. His only thoughts had been how lucky he was that someone was watching out for him.

The hollow laughed. He'd been a bit worried about his other self's probable reluctance towards working with a hollow, even a hollow version of himself, but this just about proved that Ichigo would be willing to put up with him as long as he helped.

At that thought, the hollow smiled. He was trying his best. He was becoming stronger. Some day, the two of them would make the perfect team. Partners. They'd rescue Rukia and take down anyone who stood in their way of anything!

More of Zangetsu's random opponents appeared then, and the hollow was more than ready for them. The training continued.


	3. Black & White

"I need to ask a favor of you." It was with great annoyance that the hollow suddenly found himself standing on the sideways buildings in Ichigo's mind again, and that didn't improve when Zangetsu immediately began to speak, not even bothering with a greeting.

Trying to regain his bearings with a frown, and noting to himself that his sword seemed to have been left in Zangetsu's world, the hollow turned to face the expressionless zanpakutou. "You need _my_ help?" he asked incredulously.

Zangetsu either didn't notice his irritation, or he didn't care. "You've been paying attention to Ichigo, correct?"

The hollow smirked. That was a stupid question...

Ichigo had started fighting against a captain by the name of Zaraki Kenpachi. Well, more running away than fighting, but it was enough to open up their link again.

"_What is with this guy?_" Ichigo's thoughts continued to filter through their link, and they were filled with a sheer terror of this captain. It was suffocating, clouding his ability to fight or even think properly. "_At least with Renji, a vice captain, I stood a chance to begin with! I can't even cut this guy, no matter how hard I hit him!_"

Kenpachi caught up to him and his thoughts blurred into a whirl of panic again. He tried desperately to fend the larger man off, but he wasn't accomplishing much, and soon Ichigo turned and started running again.

The hollow frowned slightly. He _could_ tell that Ichigo wasn't _just_ running away. He was making an effort to fight... But he still hadn't thought to call on Zangetsu's power, and whenever Kenpachi showed off his admittedly high spiritual pressure, he lost what little measure of calm he'd been able to build up.

"_This is insane! If this keeps up, he's seriously going to kill me!_"

The hollow returned his attention to Zangetsu's question with a shrug. "So this Kenpachi guy is kicking him around a bit and he's not bothering to ask for help. It's a little pathetic, yeah, but what do you expect me to do about it?"

Zangetsu looked less than pleased about the obvious criticism. "Do not judge him; you were exactly like this before. He simply doesn't know me the way you do yet, so he doesn't realize that he _can_ call upon me."

The hollow nodded amiably. "Yeah, yeah, I know... My question still stands, though; what do you want me to do about it?" It wasn't just an idle question, he really was curious to know what Zangetsu had come up with.

"Ichigo just needs to be shown exactly how I can be used," Zangetsu explained. "And the only one who can really show him..." he looked at the hollow pointedly.

The hollow raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Me? But how..." His question trailed off halfway as he realized what the zanpakutou was planning, and he grinned. "You're bringing him in here?"

Zangetsu nodded. "I am working on it. Without him calling on me, I must be the one to call upon him. However, manifesting myself outside is not a simple task."

"I understand." The hollow closed his eyes, his head tilted upward as he searched for the battle outside once again. "As long as he doesn't get us killed before that, then..."

Zangetsu frowned, merely nodding in agreement.

Ichigo had managed to get himself far away enough from Kenpachi that he felt he could take a breather. Leaning heavily both on Zangetsu and on a nearby wall, he tried to steady himself.

"Calm down... calm down... there's no way a person _can't_ be cut..." Ichigo reasoned to himself. "It just seems that way because my reiatsu is being dulled by my fear. Like old man Zangetsu said, 'Forget the fear. Move forward. Never ever stop.' I just need to calm down and focus..."

The hollow smirked. Ichigo _did_ know what his problem was, and he was making steps to correct it... He wondered how he still managed to miss the fact that he could call on his sword, though. Did he really think that this was all the power he had?

Ichigo took a deep breath and set his face into a firm scowl. "Right. I can do this." He stood straight again and began to walk back the direction he'd come from.

He'd barely taken two steps when he came to an abrupt halt, staring up at the sky with wide eyes and straining to sense something. "N...no way... Chad?"

It took a moment for the hollow to realize that Ichigo wasn't sensing something strange that _was_ in the air, but rather something that _wasn't_. Ichigo had somehow noticed Chad's spirit energy disappear.

The hollow scowled, not really sure how he felt about Chad dying. Chad was his friend, or had been before...

In fact, the hollow wasn't really sure how he felt about any of his old friends, now that he thought about it. He was pretty sure that Rukia had mentioned something about hollows tending to target those who had been closest to them first, so he had expected to feel... Hunger? Longing? Something like that.

Actually, he noticed that he hadn't felt that hunger since he'd very first become a hollow. He didn't know why. Probably something like, as long as Ichigo kept eating, _he_ had no need to be hungry either.

Anyway, he didn't feel any hunger, and in fact, he didn't seem to feel much different about his friends than he had before. Unless you counted the fact that he tended to categorize them in terms of strength now. Chad was strong, Ishida slightly stronger, Inoue and Rukia both comparatively weak, and so on...

Although, he supposed that Ichigo's usual impulse to protect his friends didn't really seem to apply correctly anymore. It was just an excuse to fight, right?

As far as Chad's sudden disappearance went, he merely felt... Disappointment, he supposed... Concern, certainly...

But he definitely wasn't nearly as upset by it as Ichigo, who had completely frozen now, stretching his senses out as far as he could make them go, and further, in search of Chad. All thoughts of his own personal safety and the battle he was currently fighting were thrown out the window.

The hollow almost wanted to yell at his partner to pay attention. Worry about others _later, _when there's _not_ a crazy powerful guy trying to kill you!

But he knew that it wouldn't do any good. Even from in here, Ichigo's mental world, Ichigo wouldn't hear him unless he was _listening_; that was Zangetsu's problem in the first place.

"There! It's faint, but it's there!" Ichigo's voice and clear relief broke into the hollow's thoughts.

Somewhat surprised, the hollow looked as well. Sure enough, there was a small spark of spirit energy in the direction where Chad had been last. And it was definitely Chad's...

"That's right... Why am I wasting time here being scared?" Ichigo was talking to himself again. "I can't stop now. I've got people counting on me. Chad, Ishida, Inoue, Ganju and Hanatarou... Rukia..." Ichigo took a deep breath and faced resolutely back towards where Kenpachi was waiting somewhere. "There's no time to be scared!"

The hollow grinned. Ichigo had found his resolve and all of his fear had been forced away. He _still_ needed to call on Zangetsu, but at least now he'd be able to hold his own for a while.

It didn't take long for Ichigo to find Kenpachi again; he'd gotten bored of chasing him and was sitting in one of the alleyways looking depressed. When he spotted Ichigo, approaching him with a look of determination on his face, he instantly beamed, getting quickly to his feet.

"Hey, you stopped running away!" Kenpachi laughed, drawing his sword again. "Decided you were ready to die? Or have you just given up?"

Ichigo scowled, holding Zangetsu ready in both hands. "Both of those are wrong!" With that, he leapt forward and swung his sword as hard as he could at his opponent.

A thin line of blood appeared across Kenpachi's chest and Ichigo's spirits lifted as he jumped out of range of a potential counterblow. "_He can be cut!_" he thought in triumph.

"Sorry," he said aloud. "But I can't die here. If I do, everything I'm working for will be destroyed!"

Kenpachi was thrilled. "So you _can_ do it!" he laughed, apparently ignoring Ichigo's words. "Keep it up! The fun is just beginning!"

With that, he lunged at Ichigo, and the two of them began to fight.

The hollow frowned slightly. Without opening his eyes, he spoke aloud to Zangetsu, "Are you sure you need my help?"

"What do you mean?" the zanpakutou asked seriously.

The hollow shrugged. "I mean, yeah, he hasn't called on you yet, but he didn't during his battle with Renji either. Is it that important that he do so now? He's already doing better than he was a moment ago."

Zangetsu paused before responding, letting out a small sigh. "His opponent is holding back in this fight. He lives for the thrill of battle. If Ichigo does not combine his strength with mine, our power will clash and he will not be able to defeat him."

"Oh." The hollow thought about that for a moment before smirking, tilting his head to one side in amusement. "What'll happen if you bring him in here while he's fighting? Won't that make him... pass out or something?"

Zangetsu shook his head. "No. You know that my special abilities center around speed. For a brief time, I can speed up our perceptions so that the outside world seems to stand still. I cannot maintain it for long, but it will be enough."

The hollow nodded thoughtfully. "That'd be a useful move in battle, you know? To be able to move that fast..."

Zangetsu frowned. "I cannot maintain it for long," he repeated. "And it's only effective to that degree while Ichigo is within his own mind."

"Hmm." The hollow returned his attention to Ichigo and Kenpachi just as the battle got interesting.

As Kenpachi dodged one of Ichigo's attacks, he reached out and grabbed Zangetsu directly, twisting it and sending Ichigo flying upward, but slicing up his own hand in the process. He didn't seem to care, merely using Ichigo's moment of air time to stab his sword at him.

Ichigo barely managed to dodge it; the blade sliced through the cloth of his uniform as he fell. Using the grip Kenpachi had on his sword to stabilize himself in midair, he kicked the blade out of his opponent's hand and then flipped to right himself, landing heavily on both feet.

Quickly, he brought Zangetsu up to defend again, looking up at Kenpachi to make sure he wasn't caught off guard by his next attack.

Kenpachi wasn't there. Ichigo stared in confusion at the empty alleyway for a moment before a sudden ringing noise sounded just behind him.

He brought Zangetsu up above his head just in time to block Kenpachi's sword again. Forcing the blade away, Ichigo whirled to face his opponent.

Kenpachi's smile had broadened again. "Great! Very good reaction!" he praised. "Your concentration is improving! Unlike before, you're hearing the chime of my bells!"

Ichigo narrowed his eyes, breathing heavily. What was with this guy? He was acting like this was some sort of training session instead of a battle to the death.

Kenpachi seemed to notice his confusion and he smirked. "You see, Ichigo... the bells, the eye patch, they're all just accessories I wear specifically to give my opponent an advantage, to make them stronger. Otherwise, I destroy them too quickly, and the battle's no fun! So take full advantage of them!"

Ichigo scowled, gripping Zangetsu tightly. "You still underestimate me," he concluded, irritated by the other's attitude. "Is that also why you haven't released your sword yet?"

There was a pause as Kenpachi's grin faded. He gave Ichigo an odd look.

Taking this as a cue that he was right, Ichigo forced a smirk onto his face. "You better start taking me seriously, you know. I've already cut you once and if you keep holding back-"

Kenpachi interrupted him, watching him with a deadpan expression. "My zanpakutou has no name. What you see is what you get."

The hollow whistled appreciatively. "Wow, he's got his reiatsu up that high _without_ his sword helping him? Nice..."

Ichigo, however, didn't seem to get it. He grinned in relief. "Oh, really? Well, that's good to know. So, your sword won't get any stronger. So..."

The hollow almost choked at Ichigo's words. "You hypocrite! Don't brag about the one thing you're not doing yourself!"

"Hush," old man Zangetsu instructed with mild annoyance, still concentrating hard. "This is about to get bad..."

Sure enough, Kenpachi had interrupted Ichigo again, this time with his sword. Ichigo quickly brought Zangetsu up and blocked with the flat of the blade, swallowing his words hard.

"So, what?" Kenpachi growled. "So, you'll win if you try a little harder? You're the one underestimating me!" His already impressive spirit energy flared up even higher in his anger and Ichigo's eyes widened with insuppressible fear.

The hollow scowled. If Ichigo didn't move _right now_, Kenpachi's sword was going to cut right through Zangetsu!

"Zangetsu-san, can't you do anything?!"

Zangetsu sounded immensely frustrated. "Not until he calls on me!"

"My sword doesn't have a sealed form simply because it can't be sealed," Kenpachi explained slowly, adding more pressure. "I've got so much spirit energy that no matter how hard I try, the strongest seal won't hold it."

Ichigo stared in disbelief as, with one shove, Kenpachi pushed his blade hard enough to crack through Zangetsu and continue towards Ichigo's unprotected chest.

Well, not unprotected for long. Acting quickly, the hollow forced the mask back into existence again beneath Ichigo's uniform. Kenpachi's sword glanced sharply off of one edge and stabbed into Ichigo's chest. Painful, still potentially deadly, but it had missed the vital organs that Kenpachi had been aiming for.

Kenpachi continued speaking. "I thought I told you not to let up on your spiritual pressure," he chided, sounding very disappointed. "What, you gain a tiny hope of victory and suddenly you let your guard down and relax?"

Ichigo couldn't respond. He coughed involuntarily and blood flowed into his mouth. Pain spread across his whole chest, only increasing when Kenpachi suddenly yanked his sword back again.

Once the sword was removed, Ichigo's blade split where it had been pierced and it fell to the ground in two separate pieces. Zangetsu winced visibly. Dismayed, Ichigo collapsed.

"You done already?" Kenpachi asked pointlessly. "How boring... What a waste of time..." He turned his back on Ichigo and began to walk away.

For a moment, Ichigo merely lay there in shock. Then he tensed and painfully forced one arm up underneath himself, trying to get up again. "_I can't die here!_" he thought stubbornly, lifting his head to glare at the eleventh division captain. "_I... can't!_"

Kenpachi just ignored his efforts, dragging the tip of his blade across the cement with a loud, grating noise.

The hollow frowned up at his zanpakutou again. "Zangetsu-san?" he asked urgently. "Now would be a good time!"

Zangetsu grimaced, his eyes still closed. "Almost..."

Kenpachi's blade lifted from the ground as he swung it up to rest on one shoulder. Dust from the cement flew into the air, matching the arc.

And then, everything froze. "Got it." Zangetsu vanished, materializing dramatically in the outside world.

Ichigo stared. "Old man... Zangetsu?" he struggled to choke out.

Zangetsu watched him impassively, a look of disappointment on his face. Silently, he began to walk towards him, obviously carefully wording what he had to say.

After a long moment, he spoke harshly. "Ichigo. Do you wish to fight? Or do you wish to live? One or the other. Choose."

Ichigo scowled and his grip tightened on the hilt of his broken blade. "I want to win," he muttered.

"I can't hear you," Zangetsu pressed.

Ichigo took a breath, pushing himself up further, and tried again. "Just fighting... is meaningless!" he declared, his voice gaining strength. "Just surviving... is meaningless! I want to win... I want to win!"

Zangetsu nodded, looking pleased with that answer. "Then I can take you there." He knelt before his fallen master and placed one hand on his shoulder.

With a snap, Ichigo's vision filled with black and the hollow grinned, opening his own eyes and looking around to see where Ichigo would appear.

He couldn't help but feel excited. This would be the first time the two of them would actually meet face to face, and from the sound of things, Zangetsu planned on letting them fight.

The two opponents that Zangetsu had never sent against the hollow during his training were Ichigo and Zangetsu himself. The reasons were fairly obvious, but the hollow really wanted to test his strength against his other half, his former self. He needed some confirmation that he was actually doing some good in here.

The hollow wondered vaguely if Ichigo would make the connection between him and his 'lucky hollow mask.' He laughed at the idea, knowing he didn't look much like a hollow in here. So, probably not.

A familiar yell in the distance caught his attention and he scoffed slightly. Of _course_ Zangetsu would bring Ichigo to a building clear on the other side of 'town', just to make it hard on him. Immediately, he began to run towards the sound, jumping the distance between buildings as he went.

When he spotted them, he had to grin. Zangetsu was walking away from Ichigo, speaking softly to him as he moved. Ichigo had plastered himself to one of the windows on the floor, staring over at the ground with wide eyes. Obviously, the gravity in this place had thrown him for a loop.

The hollow had never been able to get a straight answer out of Zangetsu or his puppets as to why this world was oriented on its side. He suspected that the zanpakutou didn't know either, but of course he'd never admit not knowing something.

Watching Ichigo now, the hollow had the strange sense of catching a glimpse of himself in a distant mirror or, possibly more accurately, of watching a videotape of himself, as he'd been before. This was his first time actually seeing his other self rather than merely seeing what he was looking at.

Ichigo was getting to his feet, looking very unsure about the surface he was standing on. Zangetsu didn't give him much time to think about it, turning and throwing a small, thin sword in his direction.

Automatically, Ichigo tried to catch it, fumbling it when he realized that it was a sword and that he'd almost grabbed the sharp side. Eventually, he was able to get a solid hold on the hilt. "Are you crazy?" he yelled at Zangetsu. "Don't go throwing unsheathed swords around! That's dangerous!"

The hollow smirked. Throwing the sword... Now there was an idea. Maybe if he held onto the cloth around Zangetsu's hilt...

Zangetsu ignored Ichigo's outburst, continuing to walk away from him. "It is an Asauchi; a nameless zanpakutou given to low class Shinigami who have not yet achieved shikai. Take it. It's yours."

Ichigo looked confused, glancing down at the small sword. "Mine? But, uh... My sword is...uh... Zangetsu, isn't it?"

"Zangetsu?" The zanpakutou abruptly stopped walking. The hollow could hear the hurt and anger in his voice as he spoke again. "You mean the sword that your enemy _broke_ just now? You mean _this_?"

Zangetsu turned to face Ichigo, revealing the sword version of himself in one hand.

Ichigo looked appropriately guilty, staring down at the sword he held now. "Well, uh..."

Zangetsu shook his head. "I cannot let you have this," he said sharply. He looked up over Ichigo's shoulder at the hollow for a moment, and then tossed Zangetsu over the edge of the building they were standing on.

"H-hey!" Surprised, Ichigo started forward to go after it, but the hollow was way ahead of him.

"Out of the way!" he called, shooting past his other self at high speed. Leaping up into the air, he grabbed Zangetsu's hilt, flipped over once for good measure, and then landed hard on his feet on the next building over.

The hollow could feel Ichigo staring at him and he looked back with a grin, laughing at the expression on his face.

"What... what _are_ you?" Ichigo asked in shock.

The hollow smirked. "'What'? That's not a very nice thing to say, partner!"

Ichigo started to respond, but old man Zangetsu interrupted him. "If you wish to prove your worthiness to wield me again, Ichigo, you must take me back with your own hands," he instructed. "Your opponent is... Yourself!"

The hollow laughed, knowing that Ichigo probably didn't realize just how literal that statement was. This was going to be fun. "Yeah, take it back—if you can, partner!"

Abruptly, he jumped the distance between the two buildings and ran at Ichigo, his sword held high. Ichigo quickly brought the nameless zanpakutou up to defend and the two swords clashed, sending sparks flying.

Zangetsu was, obviously, much larger and much more powerful than the Asauchi, and Ichigo's eyes widened as he realized this. With one push, Ichigo was sent skidding back along the building, fighting to keep his balance.

The hollow almost frowned. With Ichigo using that pathetic thing that old man Zangetsu had thrown at him, this fight wasn't going to be any fun after all. He sent the old man a brief annoyed look, and then started in on what he'd been asked to do in the first place; showing off Zangetsu's power.

As Ichigo looked back up at him, the hollow filled Zangetsu with spirit energy, causing it to glow a harsh red, as opposed to Ichigo's normal blue.

The hollow had tried to ask Zangetsu about that, too, actually. Had becoming a hollow really changed his spirit energy that much? But Zangetsu didn't seem to know the answer to that one either.

Ichigo returned his gaze to the Asauchi in his hands, giving it a look of disgust. It wasn't hard to see just how useless of a sword it was, especially compared with Zangetsu.

The hollow smirked. Well, this was boring. Time to try livening things up a little. "Hey, Ichigo!" he called, dropping Zangetsu and catching the white hilt wrap as it fell.

Ichigo blinked up at him in surprise, and the hollow began to swing Zangetsu from side to side. Then, with one swift movement, he flicked his wrist, sending the sword flying into a fast spin above his head. "If you just keep standing there, I'm going to kill you."

The hollow grinned at the look of shock that appeared on Ichigo's face, feeling a burst of triumph when he realized that even old man Zangetsu looked faintly surprised by the strange technique.

As Zangetsu came to a high arc in its spin, the hollow thrust his arm out, sending the sword flying directly at Ichigo, who barely managed to scramble out of the way in time.

"Che. I missed." The hollow laughed, yanking hard on the hilt wrap to bring Zangetsu directly back into a spin. The building that he'd hit crumbled, beginning to fall down. Sideways?

It was strange that the clouds in this place, as well as the things on the ground/wall, still followed the gravity that the world _should_ have had, and yet things like the building breaking followed their new, sideways gravity. He'd have to ask Zangetsu how that worked later.

Zangetsu was giving him a somewhat impatient look and he smirked. Right; he'd said that he wouldn't be able to hold this time stop thing forever, and he wanted the hollow to hurry up.

The hollow wanted to keep fighting, of course. (Well, he _wanted_ to get Ichigo his own version of Zangetsu and _then_ keep fighting, but that wasn't going to happen.) But, he supposed Zangetsu had a valid point. They wouldn't want Ichigo to die on them...

He gave Zangetsu a small nod and kept his sword spinning through the air instead of attempting another throw. The first one had worked perfectly; he was rather pleased with this new technique.

"I don't get it, Ichigo!" he called, getting Ichigo's attention again. "You had such an awesome sword, and yet you still somehow ended up cut up and left half-dead on the ground! How could you let a thing like that happen?"

Ichigo was breathing hard, giving him a half-hearted glare.

The hollow frowned at him. He still didn't get it. "Ichigo, does a complete stranger suddenly become your best friend just because you asked him what his name is?" he asked, grinning again.

"What?" Ichigo was taken by surprise by the question.

"I'm talking about you and your sword!" the hollow clarified with a slight shake of his head. "Did you assume that just because you know his name, that you know everything about him? As you were fighting, did you even once consider calling on Zangetsu for his help?"

Ichigo's eyes widened as he thought back on the battle. The hollow smirked, knowing that he'd pretty much done his 'job' now.

"This isn't all there is to Zangetsu's power!" he continued. "If you give more to him, he becomes stronger! But you won't do that! You won't rely on your own zanpakutou's power!"

He sent Zangetsu flying at his other self again. Ichigo was distracted by his words and the flying blade almost hit him this time.

The hollow pulled the sword back, spun it once over his head, and sent it flying again. This time, Ichigo actually tried to fight back with the pathetic nameless blade. He knocked Zangetsu off to one side, but mostly only accomplished knocking himself off balance, making him an open target for another attack.

With a laugh, the hollow threw Zangetsu again, pleased when, even off balance and completely distracted, Ichigo was still able to dodge the attack. He grinned.

All right, he'd gotten old man Zangetsu's point across. With a flick of his wrist, he dropped Zangetsu out of the spin and released the hilt wrap, catching the hilt in one hand and resting the flat of the blade across his shoulder.

Once the attacks stopped, Ichigo's attention fell away from him altogether. He wasn't even looking at him, instead gazing _over_ his shoulder at where old man Zangetsu was perched ominously on his pole. Ichigo had a hesitant, repentant look on his face.

The hollow's smile dimmed slightly. It was an irrational feeling; this whole thing had been set up so that Ichigo would actually listen to his sword. Still, he had hoped that Ichigo would talk to _him_ at least a little more than just expressing a mild curiosity as to what he was...

He really shouldn't be surprised, though. Ichigo probably didn't even realize that he was a real person. More than likely, he assumed that the hollow was some fabrication of Zangetsu's, like the puppets, or the nameless sword he held...

The hollow almost laughed. Nameless sword... He hadn't earned his name back yet, and he was a part of Zangetsu...

Anyway, he was a bit tired of being ignored. "Hey!" he yelled to get Ichigo's attention once more. "Time to end this! I'm going to show you the _real_ way to use Zangetsu, since you'll probably never figure it out yourself to save your life!"

He held Zangetsu out parallel to the ground and began running at Ichigo, a grin on his face. Ichigo's expression darkened. Slowly, he moved the Asauchi into a blocking position, his eyes still on old man Zangetsu.

The hollow was close now. He leapt into the air and brought Zangetsu around behind him, beginning the overhead arc that would bring it crashing down right through Ichigo's useless blade.

As he moved, the sword's weight shifted suddenly in his hands. There was a flash of light as the two blades collided and sent sparks flying, and then the two of them both froze, staring down at the swords they held.

Old man Zangetsu had swapped their blades.

Ichigo now held Zangetsu, and the force that the hollow had put into swinging the large blade had instead caused the Asauchi that he now held to crack where the blades had connected.

"Zangetsu..." Ichigo whispered in awe. "Does this mean... you're giving me another chance?"

The hollow felt a flash of annoyance. They were now standing less than a foot apart from each other, but Ichigo's gaze was still directed over his shoulder at old man Zangetsu. He doubted Ichigo was really even aware that he was there.

Zangetsu nodded slowly, closing his eyes and pulling Ichigo up out of the inner world, back to the fight.

Slowly, the hollow straightened, frowning down at the now broken blade in his hands. "So, he's gone, huh?" he asked, trying not to let the frustration he felt edge into his voice.

"Yes. Sorry for calling you out here like this."

The hollow gave him a strange look. That was an unusual statement for the zanpakutou... His wording was careful, as if Ichigo were still watching somehow.

Actually, he might be. Now that Ichigo was aware of his inner world and was trying to communicate with Zangetsu, it was possible that he could see this conversation, especially since he'd only just been sent back.

That still didn't explain why Zangetsu had worded that in such a strange way, though. Unless...

Unless Zangetsu had noticed the hollow's annoyance and was trying to point out subtly to Ichigo that the hollow was actually a real person and not just an illusion.

Lightly, the hollow tossed away the broken blade. "No problem, Zangetsu-san. I mean, he is the owner of this world. It'd be problematic if he lost, so of course I had to help."

There was a short pause, and the hollow noticed that Ichigo was getting back to his feet again, his spirit energy swirling around him as he tried to focus it.

If Ichigo _was_ still paying attention to his inner world, the hollow realized suddenly, he probably wouldn't appreciate knowing that the hollow was watching him. He frowned at Zangetsu. "Well? Send me back, Zangetsu-san."

Zangetsu nodded, and the hollow began to dissolve from the bottom up again, heading back to the world of Zangetsu's mind.

"He's strong, Zangetsu-san," the hollow noted aloud as he disappeared. He smiled. "Train him well... Someday, that power will be mine, too."

He suspected that the end of his sentence had gotten cut off as he dissolved, but he didn't mind; Zangetsu knew what he meant.

Once he was in Zangetsu's world again, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes again. It didn't take him long to locate the battle; the hollow mask was still in existence outside, so everything was quite clear.

Ichigo fought hard against the Kenpachi guy, who, just as Zangetsu had predicted, increased his strength as he thought Ichigo could handle it. The hollow smirked. He'd end up having to fight him later as one of Zangetsu's puppets, he just knew it. It'd be fun, too. He could probably make him go all out!

He wondered when he'd be able to fight real opponents _outside_. Probably not any time soon. Zangetsu was still stronger than he was, so of course Ichigo was leagues ahead of him.

If Ichigo had been given his own version of Zangetsu instead of the dinky thing the old man had given him, the hollow still would have been able to give him a run for his money, but Ichigo would have definitely been the winner. It would be a while yet before Ichigo could really use his strength in a real battle.

Not that it mattered. Ichigo was doing just fine without him, especially with Zangetsu's help. Now that he wasn't stubbornly ignoring his own sword, he was able to keep his skill rising to match and exceed Kenpachi's, even when the other man pulled off that bizarre eye patch monster.

At last, Zangetsu had to inform Ichigo that he couldn't hold his wounds closed for much longer. They were both at the limits of their strength. He had one shot left, and then it'd be over.

For once, Ichigo was completely calm. Gripping Zangetsu tightly, he poured as much spirit energy into the blade as he could manage. Old man Zangetsu responded in kind, adding his own power to it and giving it right back to Ichigo.

The hollow watched in anticipation, unable to do much more than reinforce the mask, which still lay hidden beneath Ichigo's uniform, acting as an unseen shield. He'd probably need it, too. Kenpachi was laughing now, thrilled that Ichigo was still able to raise his spirit energy this far into the battle.

With a yell, Kenpachi charged forward, raising his ragged, nameless sword high. Ichigo moved forward, his face expressionless, lifting Zangetsu and preparing to meet his enemy head on.

The two collided. The hollow winced as Kenpachi's blade smashed the side of the mask where it hit. Pain shot through Ichigo's whole body, but there was no time to think about that now.

Zangetsu was buried deeply in Kenpachi's shoulder, but the other man was still standing as though he hadn't noticed it. A faint look of surprise was the only indication that he felt any pain from the blow at all.

Blood flowered across the front of Ichigo's uniform, flowing not only from this new wound but from the old ones as well as Zangetsu lost his hold on them. It was over...

Disappointment and regret arose in Ichigo's mind and he squeezed his eyes shut. "Sorry... everyone..."

With a jerk, he yanked himself off of Kenpachi's blade. It cut sideways across his chest, cracking the hollow mask even further and sending blood splattering across the shattered concrete beneath their feet.

Then, Ichigo collapsed, unable to do anything more. Nothing would move. He was too tired, in too much pain. Nothing would move, and if Kenpachi was still standing, it was all over...

Kenpachi laughed dryly. "What are you apologizing for?" he demanded. He began to sway back and forth, holding up his sword. With a grin, he finished, "You won..."

The blade snapped into two pieces, (the hollow was glad that it hadn't done that _while_ it was still lodged in Ichigo's stomach,) and then Kenpachi dropped to the ground.

The hollow grinned, just as exhausted as Ichigo was. Draw.

Presently, Ichigo became aware of another figure approaching slowly. The girl! Every instinct in him shouted at him to move, but his body still wasn't responding to anything.

How could he have forgotten about the girl? Yachiru, was it? Now it really was over; he couldn't move, and she was-

"Thank you!" The small girl bowed low to him, a smile on her face. "Ken-chan had a lot of fun today!"

She turned and, with strength that no ordinary girl her age should have, lifted Kenpachi up onto her shoulders. Then she grinned at Ichigo again. "If you can, don't die, Ichi. Maybe you and Ken-chan can play again, sometime!"

With that, she leapt away out of sight, taking Kenpachi with her.

If Ichigo could have laughed, he would have. They were totally nuts, the both of them... His eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.

The hollow continued to watch, trying to decide if Ichigo was going to be okay.

He'd managed to prevent major damage to his vital areas, but that wasn't going to mean anything if he didn't get that bleeding stopped somehow. The fact that Ichigo was having trouble breathing probably wasn't a good sign either. They were going to be in trouble if somebody didn't find them pretty soon...

Although, in this place, he might be in even more trouble if somebody _did_ find him.

A voice spoke suddenly, close to Ichigo's head, and the hollow started in surprise. How had somebody gotten that close to him without him noticing? Ichigo's eyes were closed, but there was nothing wrong with his hearing, he should have heard...

Then he recognized the voice as belonging to Yoruichi, Urahara's black cat who had come with them. Of course the hollow hadn't heard him; cat paws were silent.

"Don't worry," Yoruichi was saying softly. "I won't let you die."

A blast of immense spirit energy was followed by strong arms lifting Ichigo gently.

The hollow let himself relax. Okay, he wasn't sure _how_ the cat had managed to pick Ichigo up, but at least Ichigo definitely wouldn't die now. That was enough.

Slowly, the hollow got to his feet and stretched muscles that were stiff from sitting in one place for too long. "All right, Zangetsu-san," he called out loud. He unsheathed his sword and smirked. "I'm ready when you are."

Zangetsu complied, and several figures appeared in the distance, heading towards him quickly. The training continued.

* * *

Yoruichi discovered the hollow mask, of course. It was kind of hard to miss, lying broken on top of Ichigo's wounds the way it had been. Yoruichi pretty much just ignored it, laying it off to one side while he worked on bandaging Ichigo up.

There was still something very off about _how_ Yoruichi was doing all this, but the hollow didn't really care.

Ichigo finally woke up some time after Yoruichi finished getting the bleeding to stop. Ichigo immediately thought of Chad and stubbornly tried to get up again, but Yoruichi put a quick stop to that.

And then the cat mentioned the hollow mask, nosing it across the ground and propping it up for Ichigo to see. "If it weren't for this thing, you probably would have been cut completely in half," he informed him. "You are extremely fortunate. Though, I admit, I'm a bit surprised that you would carry something like this around with you..."

Ichigo's eyes were wide as he gaped at the mask. "I... had that _on_ me?" he asked in shock.

Yoruichi's expression hardened. "You don't carry it with you?"

Ichigo lightly shook his head. "No, not exactly. I mean, it saved me when I was fighting Renji the other day, too, and so I wanted to keep it... but Hanatarou insisted that I throw it away, and he tossed it in the sewers."

For a moment, Yoruichi said nothing. Ichigo misinterpreted the silence and hastily explained, "Oh, Hanatarou's an okay guy. He's from fourth division, but he's been helping me."

When Yoruichi still didn't answer, Ichigo turned his attention back to the mask again. Slowly, he reached out and picked it up, holding it above his head so that he could examine it without having to strain. "Anyway, I dunno how it came back. I'm sure Hanatarou threw it away..."

The hollow also examined the mask with some amusement. The red stripe design on it had changed slightly since the last time, gaining a few more red stripes. What, exactly, did _that_ indicate? Did it mean that he had gained more power since last time, or did it just change randomly?

There really was no way to know. Asking Zangetsu would be pointless; why would _he_ know anything about how his hollow powers worked?

"Give that to me for safe keeping," Yoruichi instructed suddenly, his voice stiff.

Blinking, Ichigo glanced over at the black cat. "What? Why? You said yourself, this thing saved my life again. I'm lucky it came back. I want to keep it..."

The hollow felt a wave of pride at this, which cut off abruptly at Yoruichi's next words.

"Give it to me. End of discussion." The cat accented his words with a fang-bearing hiss and a large burst of spirit energy.

Shaken by the words, Ichigo hesitantly lowered the mask to the ground in front of Yoruichi. "Y-yeah... okay... whatever you say..."

The hollow's vision dimmed a little as Ichigo relinquished his possession of the mask. He frowned, watching the cat stare contemplatively at it.

Yoruichi had probably guessed what the mask really meant for Ichigo, because he looked greatly disturbed by its existence. He doubted that the cat would throw it away the way Hanatarou had, but that wasn't necessarily better. He definitely wasn't going to give it back to Ichigo anytime soon.

Ichigo changed the subject, drawing Yoruichi's attention away from the hollow mask.

The hollow smirked. Fine, let Yoruichi suspect all he wanted to. It wasn't going to change what had already happened. He was what he was.

With a laugh, he let the mask dissolve into non-existence. His link back to Ichigo was cut off, but his only regret was that he wouldn't get to see Yoruichi's reaction to the mask's rather abrupt disappearance.

Resolutely, he went back to his training. Next time, he promised himself, he would be able to help out more then just summoning the mask as a shield.

Next time, he _would_ be strong enough!


	4. Black Moon Rising

Zangetsu called him out to the sideways world again much sooner than the hollow would have anticipated. He was a little confused; this time, he had his own version of Zangetsu with him, and Ichigo wasn't fighting right now.

The zanpakutou's only explanation was that Ichigo was about to begin training and that he wouldn't be able to help the hollow much during that time.

The explanation didn't make much sense, but the hollow didn't bother asking him to elaborate. Instead, he merely shrugged, sitting down and closing his eyes in an attempt to see what Zangetsu was talking about for himself.

He could connect to Ichigo far more easily while he was here than he could while he was in Zangetsu's world. Even though Ichigo wasn't fighting, a few faint images still came through and he was able to make out that Ichigo was talking to Yoruichi.

... Who was a human girl, apparently. That just figured.

Yoruichi was standing beside what looked like a giant white misshapen doll of some sort. Ichigo unsheathed Zangetsu, and the link between the two of them solidified again.

Ichigo stabbed the doll with Zangetsu as Yoruichi poured spirit energy into it. Abruptly, several things happened at once. The doll and Ichigo's sword both dissolved into a fine mist, and old man Zangetsu disappeared from Ichigo's inner world.

The hollow blinked in confusion as the mist slowly formed into Zangetsu's physical form. That was odd. It had taken time and effort for Zangetsu to materialize in the real world the last time. What exactly did that doll do, and why did Ichigo need Zangetsu to be out there?

Thankfully, his questions were answered rather quickly. Yoruichi had only just finished explaining all of this to Ichigo, and so he was still running her words through his head to try and keep it all straight.

Bankai training. There was a second, final release to a Shinigami's sword that Ichigo could learn which involved proving himself to his zanpakutou through battle.

Normally, this took decades for a Shinigami to master, mostly because of the time it took to master being able to materialize your sword's physical personification in the real world. Urahara, however, had apparently created a quick and easy three day training method.

Yoruichi stood back, holding the spell in place, while Zangetsu bent down and sent a wave of energy through the ground of the training area. All around them, swords pushed up through the solid rock; the same colors as Zangetsu's usual form, but in bizarre shapes.

Briefly, Zangetsu explained to Ichigo what he would have to do to prove himself—find the sword that was Zangetsu's 'true' form—and then the two of them began to fight.

The hollow watched Ichigo carefully. Well, this definitely explained why Zangetsu had never fought against him personally during his training. Bankai, huh? He'd never have thought of something like that...

All day, the two of them fought while the hollow watched in silence. Ichigo quickly discovered that most of the swords in the place acted like they were made of glass when they came into contact with the sword that Zangetsu was using, and Zangetsu informed him that the swords there represented pieces of his personality. Not really a reassuring thought.

As the fight went on, Ichigo began figuring out different techniques for avoiding having his sword completely smashed by Zangetsu's attacks. Occasionally, he'd come up with something interesting enough that the hollow would try it out, too.

He didn't have an actual opponent to try it out against the way Ichigo did, but it wasn't that hard to make it work. All he had to do was purposefully move in sync with Ichigo so that Zangetsu seemed like his opponent, too.

The hollow doubted that Ichigo was even vaguely aware of his presence, but he suspected that Zangetsu knew what he was doing. Not that this was a problem, really. Just as he'd said before, the zanpakutou didn't seem to mind him using his sword form for some reason.

Of course, the hollow didn't _just_ mimic Ichigo. He was able to come up with plenty of ideas of his own on top of the things Ichigo was trying, but since he had no real opponent, he couldn't actually try them to see if they worked. And some of his ideas included using Getsuga Tenshou or one of his hollow powers, which meant that there was no chance of Ichigo getting the idea to try it...

He had to wonder if zanpakutous got tired. He knew that eventually Ichigo would have to stop and rest, and maybe he could get Zangetsu to spar with him a little, then. Or at least let him fight one of his puppets...

The training for the day ended rather suddenly when, without a warning of any kind, Yoruichi dropped the spell on the doll and Zangetsu was snapped back into Ichigo's mental world. The sword Zangetsu appeared with the oddly shaped doll and both landed with a clatter on the ground.

Ichigo turned to glare at Yoruichi. "What was that all about? I'm not done yet!"

Yoruichi flipped her hair casually over one shoulder and climbed down off of the rock she'd been sitting on. "It's been twenty-four hours," she told him. "Day one is over. We don't need you killing yourself from overexertion. Rest for a while."

Ichigo scowled, but did as she asked, picking Zangetsu up off of the ground and sheathing it again.

They continued to talk, but the hollow stopped paying attention, instead turning to smirk at Zangetsu, who had returned to standing on his pole. "Bankai, huh? How come you never told us about that before, Zangetsu-san?"

Zangetsu watched him impassively. "Why share knowledge of a technique that none of us were ready for?"

The hollow gave him an amused smirk. That probably meant that he hadn't known about it either and just didn't want to admit it.

Zangetsu caught his expression and frowned. "In order to achieve Bankai, Ichigo needed to prove himself to me, and in order for him to do that, I needed to be able to readily manifest myself in the real world. Neither of us were ready for that yet."

Something about that didn't sound right to the hollow. Frowning, he tilted his head to one side in confusion. "But, not _all_ of us weren't ready. You could have taught _me_."

Zangetsu merely raised an eyebrow at him. "You are not a Shinigami," he stated. "You cannot achieve Bankai."

That irritated the hollow for some reason. "Why not? I've got the _form_ of a Shinigami, and you don't seem to have a problem with me using Zangetsu in its normal form." He shrugged one shoulder, indicating the sword sheathed there.

"Bankai is different," Zangetsu informed him.

"How?" the hollow demanded.

The zanpakutou didn't answer for a long moment. "Bankai is a Shinigami's strongest form, the perfect bond between a Shinigami and their sword. It is... impossible for a hollow to achieve."

The hollow rolled his eyes, smirking at him. "Translation: you don't know."

Zangetsu looked faintly surprised. "What?"

"Don't say 'what'. You know what I mean. Dozens of times I ask you something, and you give me some vague, roundabout answer that actually says nothing. You just don't want to admit that you have absolutely no idea."

It took Zangetsu a while to respond. Finally, he sighed. "You know me well," he said simply, closing his eyes and smiling faintly. "I am not all-knowing. Some things must be learned from other sources."

The hollow grinned, pleasantly surprised that he'd gotten even that much of an admission out of him. Satisfied, he let the matter drop. "Well, you do know _some_ things, Zangetsu-san. Like that I was watching Ichigo's training earlier..."

Zangetsu also apparently knew what the hollow was getting at. "I will not help you test your techniques," he cut in with the answer to the hollow's unasked question. "This training is for your Shinigami half, and I must conserve my strength for that."

The hollow scoffed, having expected something like that. So, zanpakutous did get tired after all.

Well, fine. He had more important things to do right now anyway. If Zangetsu refused to let him use Bankai, then that meant that when Ichigo learned it, he would have a huge strength advantage over the hollow. And he wasn't about to get left behind.

He would have to focus on something that Ichigo couldn't do himself; his hollow powers.

"All right, Zangetsu-san. I'll let you rest." The hollow smirked, turning and walking away from the zanpakutou. "You'll need it, trying to teach _him_ anything."

Zangetsu just sighed. The hollow wasn't sure whether this was in irritation or in agreement, and he laughed.

* * *

Just because Zangetsu refused to give the hollow Bankai training didn't mean that he couldn't continue to watch and learn what he could from Ichigo's training. As soon as Zangetsu disappeared from the sideways world again, the hollow dropped the cero he'd been playing with and unsheathed his sword, focusing on Ichigo.

The training went pretty much as it had the day before, with a few exceptions partway through the day.

First, Ichigo started accidentally firing off Getsuga Tenshou blasts occasionally when he became frustrated. Some time after that, he was able to figure out how it was actually supposed to work and fired one off intentionally. At that point, Zangetsu finally told him the name of the attack, and they began including it occasionally in the training.

Then, the hollow discovered almost by accident that he could actually pull himself up out of Ichigo's mental world to a point where, while he wasn't actually in control of Ichigo's body, he was on the brink of it.

It was far easier to watch from there, since nothing from the mental world could distract him from what was happening outside. So, he did that, only dropping back down to the mental world when he wanted to try something different from what Ichigo was doing.

And then Renji showed up, having somehow managed to locate them even when they were all the way down in a supposedly secret training area. This had everyone mildly concerned about the security of their hiding place, but the news that Renji brought was even worse than that.

Rukia's execution date had been moved up again, to noon the next day. That gave Ichigo less than 24 hours to complete his Bankai training before it'd be too late. With the time he'd already been training, that was only about two, maybe two and a half days to complete a training session that Yoruichi had said would take at least three.

Ichigo was worried about it, of course, but he forced a determined scowl on his face. "So what? So, I'll just have to finish this before that," he said confidently.

The hollow smirked, agreeing both with his words and with his attitude. Who cared that they were blowing every record there ever was for this completely out of the water? They could do it.

The training continued with a solemn silence. Ichigo trained on one side of the giant room they were in while Renji, who was close to achieving Bankai himself, trained on the other.

Eventually, night fell—though it was difficult to tell from in there—and Yoruichi dropped the spell on the Bankai doll again.

Nobody was happy about this, and Ichigo protested it loudly. Nothing he said could change Yoruichi's mind about a rest period, though.

"You don't seem to understand the importance of you still being _alive_ at the end of this training!" she argued. "Your zanpakutou can and will _kill_ you if you become too worn out to defend yourself. Not to mention what Kuchiki Byakuya will do to you if you _fall asleep_ while you're fighting!"

"Rukia's going to be killed in less than twelve hours!" Ichigo yelled right back. "I have to keep working at this!"

Yoruichi growled in frustration. "Look, I get that you're not going to be able to sleep, but you _will_ stop and rest for a while. Just one hour. Trust me, it will make a difference."

Ichigo continued to argue with her, but there was really nothing he could do about it. He couldn't keep training if she didn't hold the Kidou spell on the Bankai doll, and she wasn't changing her mind.

So, Ichigo paced back and forth across the training area, unable to sit still, grumbling at the fact that Renji was still continuing his own training despite Yoruichi's warning.

Finally, Yoruichi got fed up with him and spent some time teaching him the basics of shunpo, since he wasn't resting anyway.

The hollow found this technique very interesting, especially compared to his own sonido, a hollow power that had pretty much the same effect. They both had the same basic concept to them, but there were subtle differences in execution and power feeds.

He wondered if he could possibly do both techniques simultaneously to combine their effects. He could probably go pretty fast if he did that...

Zangetsu actually spent the rest period _resting_, which didn't really surprise the hollow much. Ichigo was getting pretty close to figuring out this Bankai thing, and the zanpakutou needed the rest.

The hollow continued to mess around with his sonido as Ichigo got better at controlling the shunpo, until eventually Yoruichi agreed to start up the training again.

Renji finished his Bankai training before Ichigo could, and he looked rather smug as he left the training grounds, calling out to Ichigo to hurry and catch up to him. This just made Ichigo fight even harder, determined to finish this before time ran out.

Several more hours passed before, finally, Ichigo found the sword that Zangetsu was waiting for, the one out of all of them that was Zangetsu's true form.

With a single hard swing, he smashed through the sword that Zangetsu was holding, all the way from the tip of the blade down to the hilt. Zangetsu was sent sliding back, but Ichigo didn't let up, bringing his sword crashing down on Zangetsu.

The zanpakutou raised one hand and caught Ichigo's sword just before it hit his head. Still holding on to it, he bowed low to Ichigo with a smile. "You have located it."

Breathing hard, Ichigo looked from the sword he held to Zangetsu and back before grinning. "Seriously? I got it?"

Zangetsu nodded. Slowly, he released his hold on Ichigo's sword and took a step back, raising his hand high above his head. All around them, the remainder of the swords in the massive training grounds pulled themselves from the ground and hovered in the air. One by one, they flew towards Zangetsu.

He caught the first one lightly as it approached. The second one blurred and merged with the one he now held, changing the form of it slightly to accommodate the new sword's shape.

The next sword also merged with the first, changing its shape again, and so did the next. Faster and faster they came, until the air was filled with a blur of flashing blades, and the sword that Zangetsu held looked like a shifting mass of steel.

Then, abruptly, it all stopped.

Ichigo lowered his arm from where he'd instinctively raised it to shield his face. The sword that Zangetsu now held was a copy of the one he was holding; Zangetsu's true, original form.

Zangetsu held his sword out parallel to the ground in front of him, placing his left hand lightly on his right arm to support it. Ichigo, following some silent command, did the same, watching his zanpakutou carefully.

The hollow dropped back down to the mental world to make sure he didn't get in the way of anything, but then he smirked, also mimicking Zangetsu's movements. Just how far could he push this...?

Zangetsu closed his eyes and showed Ichigo the way to activate the technique he had just spent the last two days fighting to earn. There was a large explosion of spirit energy and Zangetsu faded from sight.

When the dust cleared, Ichigo was standing alone, holding a thin, pure black sword with a stylized hilt; Zangetsu's new Bankai form. His outfit had changed too, to a mix between his own Shinigami uniform and Zangetsu's flowing black coat.

Ichigo took a deep breath and, closing his eyes, continued to follow Zangetsu's unheard instructions, releasing the energy and dropping back out of Bankai. Zangetsu returned to its normal form and Ichigo's coat disappeared.

For a long moment, Ichigo stood there like that, his sword held loosely in one hand, listening to something the hollow couldn't hear. Then, suddenly, his eyes snapped open again and he whirled on Yoruichi. "What time is it?"

Yoruichi was staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and pride. At his question, she smiled, getting swiftly to her feet. "You still have time, but not much of it. Hang on just a second, though, you're going to need something in order to get there."

She flash stepped to the ladder that led out and began to climb. Ichigo was right behind her, his face serious, but his spirits high.

Within the mental world, the hollow was staring down at himself in shock. He wasn't quite sure that he was actually seeing what he was seeing, but it appeared that he was wearing a long, tattered looking white coat and holding a pure white katana with a stylized hilt.

Ichigo's Bankai in reverse colors.

He almost laughed. The technique itself, Bankai, wasn't actually that difficult to activate. It was simply a matter of gathering up enough spirit energy and then letting Zangetsu do the rest.

The _hard_ part was winning the respect of your zanpakutou and earning the right to actually use Bankai. So, while the hollow had known that he would learn _how_ to use Bankai just from watching Ichigo, he hadn't expected...

He was a hollow. Hollows weren't even supposed to use zanpakutous at all, much less... And especially with what Zangetsu had told him before...

He hadn't expected that he would actually let him use the Bankai he'd learned.

Also following Zangetsu's last instructions to Ichigo, the hollow dropped back to his normal shikai and sheathed his sword again, placing it in its spot on his back. Then, he turned to frown at old man Zangetsu, who had returned to his customary spot on his pole.

"You told me that I couldn't use Bankai," the hollow accused.

Zangetsu raised an eyebrow at him. "I told you that you couldn't _achieve_ Bankai," he corrected. "I didn't say anything about using it once your Shinigami self achieved it."

The hollow grinned tightly at the zanpakutou, highly irritated. "You did that on purpose, to make me think that I was going to be left behind, so I'd work harder."

"I did no such thing," Zangetsu said innocently. "I cannot be held accountable for your assumptions."

"Of course not," the hollow returned sarcastically.

Zangetsu smiled, looking tired. "At any rate, you have, indeed, worked hard, just as hard as your Shinigami self. You have earned the right to use Bankai."

The hollow couldn't help but to feel a burst of pride at this. He still couldn't really understand Zangetsu's reasonings, but somehow, he, a hollow, had earned the respect of his zanpakutou. That was no small feat.

Even so, he could already tell that he could still get stronger. He could _feel_ it.

He watched for a moment as Ichigo raced toward his next big battle and a grin spread across his face. Both of them could still get stronger.

Still grinning, he looked back up at Zangetsu. He should try to squeeze in some more training before Ichigo's battle; he still had some techniques to try out, especially now that he had Bankai to play with. "Well, Zangetsu-san?"

Zangetsu was deliberately not looking at him. "Well, what?"

The hollow gave him a strange look. "Back to training? The whole dissolve-y thing?"

"That is no longer necessary."

The hollow stared at him. "Not necessary? What are you talking about? I can still become stronger."

"You can," Zangetsu agreed. "But not that way." He turned, jumped down from the top of the pole, and began to walk away.

The hollow continued to stare after him, his mouth slightly open, trying to decide whether or not to call the zanpakutou back and demand an explanation. This was the strangest behavior he'd ever...

And then, the answer dawned on him. "... You _can't_, can you? I became stronger than you are..."

Zangetsu didn't respond and the hollow knew that he was right. Slowly, he grinned.

He had done it. He was stronger than Zangetsu, which meant that he was at _least_ as strong as Ichigo was. No wonder the zanpakutou had granted him the use of Bankai.

He wondered briefly when it had happened. Was it when Zangetsu first brought him out here? Was it during training? Or just now?

Well, it didn't really matter. He was finally strong. Now, he could actually take control when Ichigo needed him. Now, he could actually help.

_Now_, Ichigo could truly call him partner.

* * *

Ichigo arrived at the execution grounds just in time to save Rukia from being run through by a giant fire bird, and then got her up to safety on the top of the wooden beams.

He wouldn't have been able to get up there if he hadn't borrowed a cape from Yoruichi that gave him the ability to fly. The hollow wasn't sure _why_, exactly, he couldn't just stand on the air here in Soul Society the same way he did while he was in the real world, which had decidedly _less_ spirit energy in the air _to_ stand on, but whatever. He wasn't about to argue against the laws of physics...

After a few captains down below destroyed the Soukyoku, Ichigo was able to pass Rukia down to Renji to take care of. (Which she was not happy about).

Three vice captains were sent in pursuit, but Ichigo just flash stepped down in front of them. Vice captain or not, they didn't stand a chance. He didn't even have to use any of the training he'd received since coming to Soul Society; a few quick punches took them down.

And then Kuchiki Byakuya finally decided to fight him.

The hollow watched the battle with growing excitement, waiting for a time when Ichigo might need his help. A time that the hollow suspected would be rather soon; he could tell that Ichigo was totally worn out both mentally and physically by all the constant fighting he'd been doing. The hollow, on the other hand, was totally ready for battle.

Ichigo handled the first part of the fight with no problems. Byakuya still underestimated him by a large margin, and Ichigo had to show off a bit just to get him to release his sword, much less fight him with Bankai.

Fortunately, it didn't take him too long to get Byakuya to start taking him seriously once he'd released his sword. One narrow miss from a Getsuga Tenshou blast, and he was pretty much convinced that Ichigo was actually a worthy opponent.

The hollow wouldn't have spent quite so much time explaining how Getsuga Tenshou actually worked, though. Why waste time giving useless information like that to someone you're just going to kill anyway?

After Byakuya released his Bankai, Ichigo very quickly realized that he'd have to use his too, as he received millions of small, shallow cuts all over from Byakuya's swarm of pink blades.

Releasing Bankai healed these minor wounds for him, and then, all of a sudden, Byakuya couldn't hit him anymore.

Speed. Ichigo's Bankai was all about speed, and nothing Byakuya did could match it now. Even surrounded by an omni-directional attack of countless millions of tiny, pink blades, Ichigo was fast enough to deflect every one of them before they could even get close.

Finally, Byakuya decided to stop underestimating him, and he switched to fighting all out. Massive amounts of his pink blades flew into the air, creating a black dome above their heads with rows of hovering, glowing pink swords. Byakuya called it a form that he only showed to those he wanted to kill with his own hands: Annihilationscape.

He had to give Byakuya some credit; it was a nice effect... even with all the pink.

At that point, the fight really began. Back and forth they moved across the area that Byakuya's Bankai had created, faster and faster, until Ichigo was even glad that he'd learned flash steps along with his Bankai. Byakuya was fast, especially with Annihilationscape in effect, and it was hard getting a hit in.

Eventually, the inevitable occurred. The hollow noticed way before Ichigo himself did when he started getting slower and slower. Just as Yoruichi had warned, Ichigo had pushed himself too hard, and without even realizing it, he was shutting down.

Byakuya was the one to point it out to him. "What's wrong? Your movements have become quite slow, Kurosaki Ichigo."

Ichigo just smirked at him, assuming that he was talking about his own increasing speed. "Oh, really? Your sword still looks like it's standing still to me," he bluffed.

Byakuya's only response was to drop a sword from the sidelines down to his free hand and stab it painfully into Ichigo's foot. Before Ichigo could even respond to that, he let go of the hilt to point at Ichigo's shoulder, moving deliberately slowly. "Way of Destruction number 4, Byakurai."

A bolt of lightning arced from Byakuya's finger directly to its intended target and continued straight through him, blasting electricity everywhere.

Ichigo stood in shock for a moment before jerking away from his opponent, breathing heavily and trying hard to regain his composure. His shoulder was still smoking.

Byakuya just frowned at him. "You've reached your limit, Kurosaki Ichigo."

"W-what... did you say?" Trying to glare up at him, Ichigo broke off as he realized in shock that he could no longer move.

Whether it was from the exhaustion from all the fighting or from the massive blast of electricity that had just surged through him, none of his limbs were responding any more, though he could feel them shaking terribly. Everything felt like it had been filled with lead.

The hollow frowned as he assessed the situation. If it was merely that Ichigo's body was exhausted, then even if he took over, it would be difficult to do much. But he suspected that Ichigo's exhaustion was at least partially mental as well as physical, so...

Calmly, Byakuya continued his observation, letting the extra sword dissolve back into pink again. "You seem to think that my speed has increased since using Annihilationscape. This is incorrect. Annihilationscape works by compressing all of the loose blades back into sword form in order to increase their killing power. It has no effect on my speed."

Ichigo stared straight ahead, still trying and failing to get his body to respond to his efforts. "You... trying to say that it was _my_ speed that went down?" he asked dully.

"You've fought well," Byakuya said simply. "Defeating several captain class opponents and even taking direct hits from Senbonzakura... You've done quite well to make it this far."

Ichigo could tell that he really meant the compliments, and that just irritated him even more. He wasn't done yet!

"But you can feel it yourself, can't you?" Byakuya went on. "Your body is shutting down. In the end, you're only human, and you've pushed yourself past your breaking point."

Slowly, Byakuya lifted his hand and summoned one of his swords to it with a flurry of pink blurs. Once it had become a solid sword shape in his grip, he raised it above his head. "Everyone has a limit, Kurosaki Ichigo. This is yours. It's over."

Ichigo's eyes widened, but he couldn't make himself move out of the way of the imminent blow. "_Move... Move... MOVE!_" he pleaded to himself. But he could already feel himself blacking out, too exhausted to do anything else.

He struggled to remain conscious. "_I came this far for a reason! I can't change anything if I don't win! I want to win! I... want to win!_"

The hollow smirked. He could arrange that.

Byakuya was right on one count; Ichigo had indeed reached his limits. But that didn't mean that _he_ had.

"Che." Lightly, the hollow pushed Ichigo out of the way and took control, quickly reaching up and catching Byakuya's blade before it could hit him. "I thought I told you; if you die, I'll be in trouble, too," he chided as Ichigo fell into blackness.

As he'd predicted, it was mostly Ichigo himself who was tired, and with the hollow in control, Ichigo's body had no trouble moving at all. And it felt absolutely amazing!

For a long moment, the hollow merely relished the feeling. How long had it been since Urahara's training had trapped him within his own mind? Two weeks? Three? A month? It felt longer.

It was one thing to be able to watch Ichigo move, even as clearly as he'd been able to the past few days, but it was nothing compared to choosing his own movements, to being in control, to having all of his senses readily available to him all at once, whenever and however he wanted them! For the first time, he felt like he truly _existed_!

"Impossible..." Byakuya breathed, drawing the hollow's attention back to the present. Byakuya was staring down at him—and at the hollow mask forming slowly across his face—in total disbelief.

The hollow grinned as, at his voice, another sensation swept over him. Massive amounts of spirit energy awakened an almost forgotten hunger; not overpowering and controlling as it had been the first time, but there all the same.

It wasn't particularly a problem, but he _was_ hungry. And Byakuya felt... _wonderful_.

Byakuya was so powerful! This fight was going to be so much fun! And once it was over, there was so much power to be gained! He could just imagine the _taste_ he would have!

"Who _are_ you?" Byakuya asked in shock, interrupting his thoughts again.

The hollow laughed. So, he knew that he and Ichigo were different people. Very observant. "Who am I?" he repeated in amusement.

It was actually a very good question, one he'd already asked himself several times before. The answer was long and complicated, and he suspected that Byakuya truly didn't care, nor did he need to know even if he did.

With a grin, he looked up at Byakuya for the first time. "I don't have a name!" he answered joyfully.

Before Byakuya could react to that, the hollow attacked, slicing up across his chest with Zangetsu and yanking Byakuya's blade out of his hand as he was sent flying backwards from the force of the blow. The hollow laughed madly at the surprise on Byakuya's face. This was great!

For a split second, the hollow felt a wave of confusion that wasn't his and he knew that Ichigo was slowly trying to figure out what had just happened. He grinned.

"You really are pathetic, Ichigo!" the hollow teased good-naturedly, speaking partly to talk to his partner and partly because he knew it was freaking Byakuya out. "The spirit energy from your own Bankai has totally wiped you out! Your whole body's shaking like crazy!"

He laughed and increased his grip on Byakuya's sword, causing it to shatter back into individual pink blades again. "Let me show you how to really use Bankai!"

With that, he moved to attack again. Byakuya reacted quickly, summoning one of his swords to his hands and bringing it to a defense position, but the hollow wasn't going in for close combat.

Pulling Zangetsu back dramatically, he sent spirit energy coursing through the blade and released a Getsuga Tenshou blast at his opponent.

Byakuya's eyes widened. "_Black_ Getsuga?" he let out unintentionally in his shock, tensing as the wave approached him.

The hollow was amused by the color change as well—was it black with a red tip because he was using Bankai? Because _he_ was using it? Or both? But he was already continuing the attack, using Zangetsu's full Bankai speed to move even faster than his own Getsuga Tenshou, appearing off to one side of Byakuya.

The Shinigami captain noticed him there, but it didn't do him any good. The hollow fired off another Getsuga. Byakuya's expression hardened as he realized that he was now faced with two powerful waves of energy approaching rapidly from different directions.

But the hollow wasn't done yet. Moving even faster than before by adding in a quick sonido, he got behind Byakuya, grabbing his shoulder roughly with his free hand.

By the time Byakuya had fully registered the fact that he was there and turned his head to look behind him, the hollow already had Zangetsu raised to release a third blast, laughing in excitement.

All three Getsugas hit at the same time, creating an explosion of red-tinged black so big that it completely dispelled Byakuya's black dome in order to push out beyond it. The air was filled with swirling dust; the last remains of the two or three feet of ground that the two of them had previously been standing on.

Slowly, the dust settled again, falling around them in swirls, revealing the hollow standing in the rubble several feet in front of Byakuya, where he'd flash stepped to avoid getting hit by his own attack. Byakuya was, rather impressively, relatively unmarked from the explosion, though he was bleeding heavily and the hair pieces he wore had shattered.

Byakuya was breathing heavily as he contemplated the hollow with a steely expression. "... This spiritual pressure... That mask... Are you... a hollow?!"

The hollow snorted in amusement at that rather obvious observation. "Hah! Who cares? You don't need to know! You're about to-"

"_Disappear!_"

Abruptly, there was a distinct _shove_ and his left arm moved on its own. Before the hollow could react, it smashed through a section of the mask spreading across his face, tightly gripped the edge it had created, and began to pull.

Ichigo! Apparently, his other self wanted control back, and he wanted it back right _now_. But why? That was stupid! Ichigo was still weak, and he was winning!

Gritting his teeth from the mental pressure that Ichigo was suddenly putting him under, he reached up and grabbed his left hand with his right, trying to pry it away from his mask and force control of it again. "Aaaarrrgh! Let go, Ichigo!" he bit out in frustration.

Ichigo wasn't about to let go that easily. "_Don't get in the way!_" he yelled. "_Disappear!_"

The hollow almost choked. "You're the one getting in the way!" he protested. "Just let me keep fighting and we'll win! Don't you get it?!"

But Ichigo kept pulling, harder and harder, and the hollow screamed from the pain ripping through his mind. Wildly, he swung his sword, trying in vain to fight off Ichigo's brutal attack. "YOU IDIOT! YOU _IDIOT_, ICHIGO! GYAAAAAA!!"

With a sudden snap, the mask broke loose, shattering into multiple pieces, and the hollow was sent careening down into the depths of Ichigo's mind.

He crashed painfully through the first building he came to, continuing to fall until he hit the next one, leaving a large crater where he landed. There the hollow lay gasping for breath.

When everything finally stopped aching enough for him to move, the hollow rolled over onto his stomach and yelled again, this time in sheer frustration. "Ichigo, you _moron_!" He slammed a fist furiously into the building, causing cracks to spread out a long distance in a spider web pattern. "Why?!"

It wasn't good enough. The hollow slammed his other fist down as well, screaming in rage. Again and again, he hit the concrete, yelling out curses and vague threats until his voice was hoarse and his knuckles were bleeding.

His rage only grew at a sudden feeling of triumph from Ichigo. He must have beaten Byakuya; but he wouldn't have won if _he_ hadn't helped. This was just...

Angrily, he cut off the mental link between the two of them, blocking out everything from the outside world and continuing his abuse of the building he'd crashed down on.

Eventually, he wore out and, reluctantly, he let himself collapse into the rubble he'd created.

"Why?" he choked out futilely at the empty air again. "Yoruichi, I can understand. Even _Hanatarou_, I can understand. But we're _partners_, Ichigo! Why?!"

As he'd expected, he didn't receive an answer. Ichigo wouldn't hear him if he wasn't listening, which he wasn't about to, not after the fiasco that had just occurred. Even Zangetsu was off in some unknown corner somewhere, probably trying to keep Ichigo from getting his stupid self killed somehow.

The hollow cried out in frustration again. "Why? It doesn't make any sense... Why?"

Did Ichigo think that he wasn't strong enough to fight yet? That he'd just get them killed? Was that why he'd wrenched back control so violently?

But he _was_ strong! There was no way that was it. Ichigo wasn't blind! Brainless, apparently, but not blind! Ichigo had _seen_ him out there! He'd seen...

No... The hollow's whirling thoughts came to a dead stop as the sudden realization hit him. Ichigo had seen him, all right. But what he'd seen... was a _hollow_.

He'd _scared_ him. It wasn't that he wasn't strong enough! Rather, it was that he was _too_ strong. He'd scared him out of his wits!

The hollow groaned, burying his head in his arms. Fear. Of all the stupid things to get in the way at a time like this!

Together, the two of them could take on any challenge that came their way. They could become the most powerful team in existence, since they would be constantly pushing each other to become stronger.

But, no. Ichigo had to ruin it all by being _scared_ of him, listening to that stupid 'all hollows are inherently evil' belief that his ignorant Shinigami friends like Hanatarou kept feeding him.

Just because hollows _were_ inherently _violent_ didn't necessarily mean they were evil. Just because their main food source just _happened_ to be human souls...

And what had happened to defending the hollow mask from naïve idiots like Hanatarou, anyway? Ichigo _knew_ he was helping! But, no! He would defend the mask, apparently, but that didn't stop him from being terrified of the hollow it belonged to!

The hollow laughed dryly. It just figured that the only instinct Ichigo seemed to pay any attention to was fear, the one instinct that would never help him. Didn't the idiot ever listen to Zangetsu-san?

For several minutes, the hollow merely lay there, stewing over his current situation. Okay, so Ichigo was scared of him. Obviously, several mistakes and idiotic misconceptions had been made, and that needed correcting. But how?

Ichigo wasn't about to start listening to him. Already, the hollow could tell that Ichigo had instinctively thrown up mental barriers around his mind, so the hollow couldn't even hear his thoughts, much less talk to him. If he tried, he would be literally speaking to a wall.

So, the hollow finally decided, the only way to get Ichigo to listen to him would be to _force_ him to listen. Break down the barriers and shout at him till he couldn't ignore him anymore!

The intrusion was sure to freak his Shinigami self out even more than he already was, but he knew just how stubborn Ichigo could be and this _was_ the only way the idiot would listen to him.

Besides, the hollow was sure that once he got a chance to explain and Ichigo saw just how strong he truly had become, he'd have to let him help. He couldn't continue being an idiot forever... could he?


	5. Ebony & Ivory

Over the next week, the hollow discovered that talking to Ichigo while he had barriers around his mind _and_ while he wasn't fighting was a frustratingly difficult task; far more than he'd originally anticipated.

As soon as he'd gotten enough strength back to get up and look around again (Ichigo's battering had taken more out of him than he cared to admit,) he had found that, amusingly enough, he'd been right with his earlier assumption that Zangetsu had been off trying to keep Ichigo from getting himself killed.

Directly after the battle with Byakuya, some captain called Aizen revealed to everyone that he'd betrayed Soul Society's government and was teaming up with hollows to try to kill the King of Soul Society, or something like that. Somehow, Rukia got mixed up in everything, and Aizen cut Ichigo nearly in half when the idiot insisted on attacking him without even pausing to recover from the last fight.

Personally, from what he'd heard of the whole issue, the hollow had to applaud this Aizen guy's efforts. Any government that would execute someone for saving a person's life and, consequently, being _late coming home_ needed a few changes, anyway. And besides that, what exactly was wrong with teaming up with hollows?

The hollow did wish he hadn't cut Ichigo up quite so badly, though. The idiot had enough problems.

Anyway, so Aizen and his followers left, taking with them some thing that Urahara had made that apparently created Shinigami/hollow hybrids. Which he'd hidden in Rukia's soul, _starting_ this whole problem. Go figure.

After all the action was over, though, there was nothing left to do but recover. Which meant that there was no more fighting. Which meant that the hollow's link with Ichigo kept trying to close, and nothing he was doing to it made it any better.

He could still see outside just fine, thankfully enough. But with Ichigo's stupid barriers up, the hollow couldn't hear Ichigo's thoughts, and Ichigo couldn't hear him either, or probably even sense him there at all. Nothing short of another full-blown takeover attempt would make Ichigo notice him.

And the hollow definitely wasn't going to attempt that just yet. Ichigo had kicked him out while he'd been barely conscious; he didn't want to know what Ichigo could do at full power. It didn't help that Ichigo's body was used to having Ichigo in control. That gave Ichigo an advantage, since it cost the hollow energy when his body shifted to hollow form to accommodate him.

So, yeah, that wasn't going to happen yet. Eventually, he'd be strong enough to try, but not yet.

That meant more training. Which he couldn't do very easily without an opponent to fight against, since Zangetsu was no longer helping. Which meant that he had to simply endure this week of total boredom that Ichigo was inflicting upon him.

One week. That was the amount of time there was left until school started again back in the real world, and everyone had decided to spend the rest of their vacation in Soul Society, since they were there anyway.

Ichigo healed rather quickly; Inoue's powers were effective, if a bit bizarre. So during the week, he did occasionally do some sparring with eleventh squad people to keep himself from being bored. And running away from Kenpachi whenever he showed up.

But those battles were never anywhere near long enough for the hollow to actually open up their link any more, and he spent most of the week pushing ineffectually at Ichigo's stupid barriers and doing target practice with ceros at the clouds in Ichigo's head.

Finally, the week ended and Ichigo and his friends went back home.

Ukitake forced some "Shinigami Representative" badge onto Ichigo before he left, telling him that it was a title given to Shinigami outside of the Gotei 13 who were acknowledged by Soul Society as being able to act as a Shinigami. The hollow seriously doubted that anything even remotely _like_ Ichigo had ever occurred before, though, so he suspected that the Shinigami captain had just made the title up off the top of his head.

Of course, being back in Karakura town turned out to be only minutely better than sitting around doing nothing in Soul Society. Why? _School_.

School was a totally foreign concept to the hollow now. How could something so _normal_ ever apply to him ever again? Besides that, it was completely pointless, it was wasting time, and even Ichigo found it dull. Even dealing with Ichigo's usual dumb group of friends did little to make things even vaguely interesting.

The hollow finally had to take to observing absolutely everything around him to keep from being totally bored out of his mind. The more he paid attention, the more things he would find to think about, and there was another five minutes down until something more interesting happened.

Thankfully, every time a hollow appeared anywhere in town, the badge that Ukitake had given him started screaming at him, pulling in the direction of the hollow's appearance. Ichigo barely even paused to give the teacher a good excuse before running out to go take care of it.

The fights that ensued were, of course, nowhere near the scale of the fights in Soul Society. In fact, they were usually over before Ichigo's opponent even knew he was there. But they were enough of a real fight that the hollow was able to use them to strengthen the connection between the two of them again, even if it was only a little each time.

Ichigo seemed to be aware of this. After each hollow he took down, he grew more jumpy and nervous, and every time the hollow pulled himself up out of the sideways world to strengthen the link, Ichigo flinched, throwing as much energy into his mental barriers as he knew how.

Fortunately for the hollow, nobody had ever taught Ichigo _how_ to make mental barriers. The few that actually blocked the hollow from seeing outside were easily broken, and the majority of them seemed directed at keeping the hollow from taking control again, which he wasn't trying to do, anyway. The only irritating part about the barriers was the fact that somehow the most powerful one was the one keeping the hollow from _talking_ to him...

Finally, though, the hollow was able to get through to him.

He wasn't sure which words of the irritated yelling he'd been doing that Ichigo actually heard, but he knew that his other self had heard something, because he stiffened suddenly, sending a panicked mental shove downwards. The hollow was sent forcefully back to the mental world, landing heavily on one knee.

"Ha!" The hollow laughed at his near success, grinning up at the darkening sky in triumph. "I'm not giving up, Ichigo! I'm just going to keep getting stronger and stronger, and then you won't have a choice but to listen to me! Then, you'll see! Together, we can crush everything!"

The hollow's smile dimmed as he surveyed the weather in the sideways world. These past few days, Ichigo's confusion and fear had been manifesting itself as heavy layers of fog, but now, it almost looked as though it were about to...

He flinched as the first drops came down. Across?

"Oh, no..." The hollow turned his back to the sky and ducked down just as it began to downpour.

The rain pounded violently on his back, and the sharp wind that picked up suddenly made the cold even worse. Within seconds, he was completely soaked through, back to front, with a large puddle of water growing steadily on the wall of the building underneath him. Shivering, he pulled his knees to his chest and glared up at the black clouds with a smirk.

"Fine! Be that way!" he called, ignoring the freezing cold water that dripped down his face and hair and shaking a fist at the sky. "Don't think this is stopping me, though!"

Right, as if Ichigo was doing this to him on purpose...

"You're making it worse," Zangetsu complained from somewhere in the distance. With a frown, the hollow peered through the haze of the rain, trying to locate him.

Finally, he spotted the zanpakutou sitting with his back against the pole that he usually balanced on. There was a look of dejection on his face, and his hair and clothes were soggy and dripping. In short, Zangetsu looked absolutely miserable.

The hollow gave him an apologetic smirk. "Sorry, Zangetsu-san. Not my fault he's being a jerk about all this..."

Zangetsu didn't reply, instead curling in on himself even tighter, wrapping his coat around himself as much as he could and looking as though he were trying to tune everything out. It was kind of a sad sight, though the hollow suspected that he didn't look much better right now...

A long moment passed, and then the hollow tried to lighten the mood. "You make a terrible umbrella, you know that, Zangetsu-san?" he joked. "Both parts of you! Not only are you not blocking _any _of the rain, sitting up there like that, but even the giant sword on my back isn't doing any good keeping me dry!"

Zangetsu rolled his eyes a little, but still didn't respond.

The hollow thought for a moment, and then tried again. "I don't suppose there's a way to get _inside_ the buildings, is there?"

This just made Zangetsu look even more miserable as he shrugged helplessly. "I hate the rain," he said simply.

The hollow sighed. That was a no, then.

With a frown, he turned to watch the street 'below' fill slowly with puddles of rainwater, which was now running in rivers along the sidewalks. He was going to have to finish this thing with Ichigo before he and Zangetsu both drowned...

The hollow briefly considered letting Zangetsu hide within his mental world, the way he had gone to Zangetsu's to train. It wasn't the zanpakutou's fault that Ichigo was upset, after all, and he didn't deserve all this sitting around in the wetness.

He decided against it, though. Ichigo needed ready access to his zanpakutou, and if he didn't have that and he had to go through the hollow to access his powers, he'd be likely to freak out about all this even more than he already was. That wouldn't help anyone...

No, he'd just have to continue what he was doing, for now, and hope Zangetsu didn't hate him for making him put up with all the rain.

* * *

The rain continued all the next day, only getting worse every time Ichigo sensed the hollow getting closer to his goal.

Ichigo stopped paying attention to class altogether, though he still insisted on going for some reason. Ignoring everything around him, he merely sat in his assigned seat and stared blankly at the blackboard, pretending to be interested in the lesson.

The hollow had no doubt that Ichigo's friends knew that there was something up with him. Even the ones who didn't know about Soul Society and the Shinigami kept giving him worried looks. They were just too polite to say anything to him yet.

And then, just to make things even more interesting, a boy by the name of Hirako Shinji showed up.

At first, he just came to school as a transfer student, loudly and obnoxiously taking the seat beside Ichigo and startling him from his brooding long enough to ask him to be friends with him. Ichigo gave him a distracted, "Uh, sure..." and then thought nothing of it. He had other things on his mind, and anything school related was unimportant.

Except that the next time they saw Hirako, he was standing on thin air and attacking Ichigo with what was clearly a zanpakutou, warning him pointlessly with a creepy smile that his large reiatsu was attracting hollows to the area.

Ichigo asked him who he was, and in response, Hirako held one hand loosely up to his face, grinning at Ichigo's expression as something totally unexpected formed there: the mask of a hollow.

"As you can see, I have a zanpakutou and a hollow's mask. I am a Shinigami who has stepped into the realm of a hollow," Hirako informed him slowly with a smile. "We are the Vaizard. And you... are one of us. Come with us, Ichigo. You don't belong with the Shinigami, and you're wasting your talent here."

The hollow was excited at the prospect. There were others like Ichigo and him! The proof was right in front of them, in the zanpakutou and hollow mask that Hirako held and, more importantly, in the divided reiatsu that he could feel coming from the Vaizard—part Shinigami, part hollow.

The offer to join them held the promise of further training, of better fighting, and of continuing to get stronger together. Hirako was right, after all. Ichigo was wasting his time here, going to a human _school_.

Ichigo was still in denial that his inner hollow even existed, though, and when an unknown Shinigami reiatsu washed over them suddenly, he took that as an excuse to get as far away from Hirako as possible.

Irritated, Hirako tried to call him back. "I wasn't done talking to you, yet!"

Ichigo just turned back briefly and scowled at him. "I don't know what this Vaizard group you're trying to get me to join is all about, but I'm not interested," he bit out. He laid one hand on his chest. "I am a Shinigami. I'm _not_ the same as you."

With that, he turned again and took off towards the strange reiatsu they'd sensed, leaving behind a highly annoyed Hirako (and taking with him a highly annoyed hollow).

By the time they got over to the spot where a battle had obviously recently taken place, the unknown Shinigami was long gone. The reiatsu still lingered in the broken street along with that of a powerful hollow reiatsu, but the place was deserted.

Ichigo looked around a little, half-heartedly, but his mind wasn't on it at all; he was still pondering Hirako's offer.

Or, the hollow assumed that that was what Ichigo was thinking about. Whatever he was distracted by, it was obvious that he wasn't thinking about this search. If he'd been paying even the slightest bit of attention, he'd have noticed that Kon's reiatsu was here as well, so if he really wanted to know what had happened here, he just had to ask the mod-soul.

As Ichigo started back home, the hollow mentally shrugged and turned his own thoughts towards Hirako.

The encounter with the Vaizard had been interesting, to say the least. The hollow knew firsthand (in more ways than one) just how stubborn Ichigo could be, though, so who knew what would actually come of the meeting, especially with all that stupid fear clouding his other self's judgment.

Most likely, he'd try to ignore Hirako the same way he ignored the hollow, hoping it would all just go away. The hollow grinned. That strategy definitely wasn't working with him, and it probably wouldn't with Hirako, either.

There had been something... off about Hirako that was bothering the hollow, though. He couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, but something was wrong there.

The Vaizard was definitely creepy, but the hollow suspected that it was a practiced look. He wore his strange smile like he wore his hollow mask; mostly to freak people out.

Which wasn't to say that there wasn't real power behind that mask; far from it. The Shinigami side of his divided reiatsu had been strong, at least Vice Captain level, if not Captain or higher. And his hollow side hadn't exactly felt like a pushover, either.

And Hirako clearly knew how to make use of both powers freely, his Shinigami side alone handling both the zanpakutou and the hollow mask's powers with ease. If they ever had to fight, Hirako would make for a formidable opponent.

It wasn't until Ichigo was jumping into his room through the window, reclaiming his body from a mildly protesting, shell-shocked Kon, and collapsing into bed that the hollow finally decided just what it was about Hirako that was bothering him.

Even as Hirako had summoned his hollow mask to display the power he had access to, his hollow powers had remained... reserved, somehow. The hollow wasn't quite sure how to explain just what he'd felt, but it was obvious that Hirako's Shinigami side was much stronger than his hollow side. His reiatsu wasn't a perfect half and half split like it was with himself and Ichigo.

The hollow frowned, trying to figure out what the implications of that were. Had Hirako and his hollow trained up their Shinigami powers without training up their hollow powers at the same time? He'd have thought that someone as strong as Hirako would have realized that they should make all of their powers equally strong.

Unless they _had_ trained both equally, as far as they were able to, and Shinigami powers just had more potential for growth than hollow powers did. Shinigami did have Bankai, after all.

The hollow shook his head at that. No. Now that he thought about it, he realized that it didn't matter which powers were stronger. If Hirako's Shinigami and hollow sides themselves were both strong, the division of reiatsu should still be equal, because they could still use each others' powers.

After all, he could use Ichigo's Bankai, or any of Ichigo's Shinigami powers, just as well as Ichigo would be able to use his hollow powers if he ever got past this fear and bothered to learn.

So it wasn't necessarily that Hirako's Shinigami and hollow _powers_ were unequal. In fact, it was more likely that his Shinigami _self_ was simply far more powerful than his hollow side.

The hollow had to wonder what had happened, if that was the case. Was Hirako's hollow half just lazy or something?

After pondering it for a while longer, the hollow smirked. Well, whatever Hirako's problem was, it meant that no matter how powerful he was, Ichigo and his hollow would have an advantage over him. Even though Hirako was obviously much stronger than they were _now_, they had the potential for a higher level of power than he was capable of.

Or, well, they _would_, just as soon as Ichigo quit being an idiot and fighting against him. Hopefully, that was something that Hirako and the other Vaizard would be able to help with, though.

The hollow had to wonder how many of them there were, and if they were all as powerful as Hirako was. He hoped so. If they were, then maybe they could actually knock some sense into Ichigo. Maybe.

* * *

Ichigo was still on edge the next morning. Their crazy dad woke him in his usual fashion, ending up making an abrupt exit through Ichigo's still closed window immediately afterwards, courtesy of Ichigo's foot.

After that, Ichigo stumbled around the room, trying to get ready for school on time. The hollow was surprised that he was able to find anything, though, if his thoughts were as foggy as he was making his inner world.

Kon looked like he wanted to say something, but Ichigo wasn't even paying attention. When he finally did start to speak, Ichigo merely shoved him distractedly into his desk drawer to get him out of his way and moved on, quickly leaving the room once he had everything.

The hollow pushed half-heartedly at Ichigo's barriers, knowing it probably wouldn't do much at the moment, and Ichigo's expression tightened even more than before. Angrily, he shoved more energy into maintaining them and stormed down the stairs.

For whatever reason, Ichigo seemed intent on not talking to anyone longer than was necessary. He grabbed a few pieces of toast, called out apologies and goodbyes to Yuzu and Karin, and then headed out the door, dodging a last-ditch attempt from Isshin at revenge for the window. Ichigo hurried to school, jogging even though he was already early.

Once there, he ignored the few people in the room, even though some of them were his friends. Instead of stopping to chat, he slumped down into his usual assigned seat and brooded silently, trying his best to give off an aura that screamed "leave me alone."

Keigo made a big show of Ichigo's distantness for a while, until Mizuiro finally made him stop, but Ishida didn't even seem to notice Ichigo enter the room, looking almost as pensive as Ichigo himself was.

The hollow quickly became bored trying to observe the people around them while Ichigo's eyes were fixed piercingly on the grain of the wood on the desk in front of him. They were a good half hour early for class, and nobody important was going to show up any time soon...

With a sigh, the hollow directed his attention to Ichigo himself.

He couldn't help but grin as he noted the state of Ichigo's mental barriers. His other self was _trying_ to hold them up, but he was so distracted by everything going on around him, especially with Hirako's words, that he wasn't even noticing the cracks running through them.

Already, the hollow was beginning to be able to hear random words here and there of Ichigo's thoughts whenever he tried to pry. It wouldn't be long before Ichigo would be able to hear him, too, especially if Hirako came to school again today.

That was definitely where all of Ichigo's thoughts were focused. What little the hollow could catch seemed to be merely running Hirako's words through his head over and over. "_...Join us... ...don't belong... ... ...Vaizard... ...you are one of us..._"

The door to the classroom burst open, and someone came skipping in. "Good Morning, Kurosaki-kun!"

It was Inoue. Ichigo was about to turn to acknowledge her greeting, when a second voice made him freeze. "Good Morning, Ichigo-kun!" Hirako.

Ichigo's other classmates had rather loud reactions to Hirako, especially when he suddenly attacked Inoue with a hug when she remembered his name. Keigo was, of course, in overdramatic tears, and Chizuru looked ready to kill. It was really just too bad that Tatsuki hadn't arrived yet. It would have been interesting to see the Vaizard's reaction to being decked by a human girl half his size.

Throughout all this drama, Ichigo had remained completely still, but suddenly he stood, drawing the attention of all of his other classmates.

"Hirako, let's go outside for a sec," he said threateningly. He grabbed the front of Hirako's shirt and dragged him from the room without even bothering to look at him.

Ichigo brought Hirako all the way out to where the hallway in the third floor opened up into the central courtyard of the school and slammed him up against the low wall of the balcony.

Hirako winced at the contact. "Ow! Hey, what gives? It's not like she's your girlfriend or anything! No way someone like you could score a chick like her!"

Ichigo gave him a blank look and the hollow laughed, realizing that Ichigo probably hadn't even noticed the conversation Hirako had been having. Finally, Hirako's words seemed to click, and Ichigo scowled. "T-that's not it... Though, you should apologize to Inoue later. I think that's how that goes..."

Hirako rolled his eyes. "Which is why you're the _last_ person I should be getting this lecture from," he grumbled, sticking out his tongue to show off the tattoo there.

Frustrated at the direction the conversation was going, or rather, where it wasn't, Ichigo shoved Hirako harder against the wall. "Why are you at school?" he demanded.

Hirako smirked. "What? Why would you ask such a question? It's the duty of a student to go to school," he said innocently.

"You know what I meant," Ichigo growled. "You only came here to recruit me. I said no. So, you have no reason to be here anymore."

Now, Hirako looked completely serious. "Do you really think I'm going to give up after just one attempt? I'm a very persistent person, Ichigo. I'm just going to keep bugging you till you nod your head."

Ichigo was about to retort, but Hirako cut him off before he could.

"It's too late, you know... Once you are a Vaizard, you'll always be a Vaizard. Whether you like it or not, you are already one of us."

Ichigo was at a loss for words. In shock, he searched Hirako's face, trying to decide if he was really telling the truth, or just making something up to try to convince him to join.

The hollow smirked. '_See? You can't get rid of me that easily, Ichigo!_' he called, wishing he could tell whether or not Ichigo could hear him.

Hirako sighed, realizing that Ichigo was still refusing to believe him. "You know... Orihime-chan, that big guy, the one with glasses, even those Shinigami... you think they're all your friends, right? Well, you're wrong! You may be friends now, but what about when they find out about the hollow living inside you? They'll be forced to turn against you!"

Ichigo scowled, ready to argue for his friends, but Hirako continued.

"And it's not just them you'll have to worry about," he said darkly. "If you keep going the way you are, you'll slowly be devoured by the hollow inside you and you'll lose your mind. When that happens, it's game over. Your own power will destroy everything: your friends, your future, and yourself. Everything will be ground up into bits."

Suddenly, the hollow's feelings of shock matched Ichigo's. '_Hang on, what are you getting at?! That kind of talk isn't going to help! It's just going to make him even more-_'

"Seriously," Hirako continued, giving Ichigo a knowing grin. "Haven't you noticed it already? The hollow inside of you should be getting stronger at an unimaginable rate... You know you can't control it..."

Ichigo's eyes widened further as he thought back on the last few days. The hollow grit his teeth, trying one more panicked effort to contact his partner. '_NO!!_'

"Come with us, Ichigo," Hirako encouraged with a smirk. "I'll teach you how to keep your sanity in check."

That combined with the hollow's push was enough to snap Ichigo out of his daze. Abruptly, he poured a ton of energy into his barriers, and then sent a wave of pressure downwards for good measure, sending the hollow back to the mental world and blocking him off temporarily from the outside world again.

"No!" The hollow seethed in anger. It was as though he could literally feel the hope he'd built up being dashed to pieces all over again. Why? Why did the universe hate him?

The rain was back, but the hollow ignored it completely, pulling himself out of the sideways world again to attempt to bring down Ichigo's barriers one last time.

No such luck. Ichigo had filled in all the cracks in the walls that he could, and built up new ones on top of that. No doubt it'd slip again later, but for now, the hollow was stuck again.

Frustrated, he dropped back down into the rain and unsheathed Zangetsu, turning to face the spot where the old man was sitting. "Zangetsu-san, give me something to fight against!"

Zangetsu looked up at him impassively for a moment, rainwater dripping from his chin and hair, before burying his face back in his arms, which were propped up on top of his knees. He obviously wasn't about to do anything that involved getting up right now. It would just make him _more_ cold and wet.

The hollow gave an irritated yell and threw his sword to the ground of this messed up world with a loud clatter, almost hoping he'd succeed in breaking a window or two, just to hear the glass shatter for once. No go on that, either.

With a loud sigh, the hollow let himself sink down into the same position Zangetsu was in, trying to keep himself from getting wetter than he already was.

"Stupid... So stupid!"

The hollow wasn't even sure who he was referring to anymore. Ichigo? Hirako? Or himself? But it didn't matter. They _all_ were.

"Not lazy," he bit out angrily, referring to his earlier guess. "Beaten into submission. And he wants Ichigo to do the same..."

It really wasn't fair. Why did everyone hate him so much? Just because he was a hollow? Because he was getting powerful?

Even Zangetsu was mad at him now, but at least he had a _reason_ to be. It _was_ the hollow's fault that Zangetsu was getting rained on every day, after all...

It just figured, though. Even among the group of Shinigami/hollow hybrids, a group that had been exiled from Soul Society for being who they were, he was going to be rejected.

"Even among the outcasts, I'm an outcast," the hollow laughed to himself. "Looks like I'm not getting any sort of support from anyone. Whatever I'm doing, I'm doing it on my own."

"So it is for most hollows," Zangetsu spoke up suddenly from behind, speaking almost too softly to be heard. "Such is your reality. The question is, knowing that, what are you going to do?"

The hollow didn't bother to turn around to look at him, since that would only earn him a face-full of freezing rain. Instead, he merely sighed, contemplating the zanpakutou's question.

"Hirako's threats are going to make things harder for me, but I'm pretty sure that my original plan will still work. If I can just _talk_ to him..." The hollow's words didn't come out sounding as confident as he'd have liked them to.

Hirako was playing off of Ichigo's fear. That would be a huge hinder to his plan... But still... "I have to at least try. What else _can_ I do?"

Zangetsu just sighed. "I knew you would say that..."

Now, the hollow did turn around, ignoring the rain in his face to offer Zangetsu an encouraging grin. "Don't worry, Zangetsu-san. Just one more try. One more... and then, I promise you, I _will_ make the rain stop... One way or another."

* * *

The hollow could see outside again before Ichigo was done with school. Which, to be honest, wasn't a huge improvement to not being able to see at all. Ichigo's thoughts were closed to him, and school by itself was, as previously stated, painfully dull.

Ichigo ditched his friends as soon as school was over, and he began walking slowly home again, obviously still deep in thought.

The hollow attempted to break down the barriers as he walked, trying his best to do so without attracting Ichigo's attention so that the other wouldn't be actively reinforcing them. He was almost completely certain that he could now fight on par with Ichigo in a contest of wills, if that's what it took, but he would rather not if he could, for several reasons.

Ichigo's dad attacked him again as he walked in the door, but to everyone's surprise, including the hollow, Ichigo didn't even attempt to block. Isshin's elbow to the face sent him flying across the room, landing awkwardly against the wall and lying there on the floor for a moment as he tried to figure out what had just happened.

As Ichigo pulled himself off the floor, the hollow snorted. '_Pathetic, Ichigo. You've really let your guard down _that_ much because of me? You can block this guy in your _sleep_!_'

"Excuse me. I'll be in my room until dinner." Ichigo ignored the protests of his family and ghosted up the stairs, barely aware of his surroundings. The rain inside the sideways world increased again, though it was already raining so hard, the change was barely noticeable.

"Yo, Ichigo!" Kon greeted him uncharacteristically warmly as he entered his room and closed the door. "Not that I was waiting for you or anything, but welcome home, anyway!"

Ichigo ignored him, too, walking over to his desk and staring blankly down at the few papers scattered across it.

Kon didn't take the silent treatment well. "Hey! I'm talking to you! What's the matter with you?"

Still no response from Ichigo. The hollow wasn't even sure if Ichigo could even hear Kon at this point. It was as if, in an attempt to strengthen his barriers against the hollow, he had instead blocked himself off from the world around him. Stupid, really.

Kon snorted in disgust at Ichigo's silence. "Well, whatever. Hey, by the way, have you ever noticed anything odd about your dad? Anything abnormal lately? I..." Kon cut himself off abruptly, looking horrified. "Nevermind, nevermind, your dad's just a normal dad! So normal, he bores me just thinking about him! Seriously!"

Ichigo sighed, flopping on his bed, still not hearing anything Kon was saying.

Kon frowned, finally noticing the mood Ichigo was in and looking concerned. "What? Is something wrong?"

"... No... Nothing at all..."

Well, at least he'd _heard_ Kon that time. He was a terrible liar, though.

Kon watched him for a moment, and then quickly made up a dumb excuse to leave the room, trying to be nice and leave Ichigo alone, as he obviously wanted. Ichigo didn't even acknowledge the mod-soul's efforts.

The hollow rolled his eyes at his other self's behavior and thought about what Kon had let slip.

Whatever had happened with Kon and that strange Shinigami last night, somehow Isshin had been involved. And Kon's abrupt change of opinion gave away the fact that somebody had ordered him to not say anything to Ichigo, and that Kon really sucked at keeping secrets.

But, despite Kon's hint, the hollow couldn't see that Isshin's behavior was any different than it usually was. He was still just as much of a crazy idiot as before.

The hollow shrugged. Most likely, Soul Society had sent someone to keep an eye on Ichigo, possibly at Byakuya's request, and somehow both Kon and Isshin had gotten in the middle of a fight between whoever it was and whatever hollow had been there the night before.

Or... Isshin couldn't even see ghosts, so maybe he'd been attacked by the hollow, Kon had tried to defend him, and eventually the unknown Shinigami had needed to jump in to save both of them.

Then, to keep his presence there secret from Ichigo, he used a memory replacer on Isshin, but it wouldn't have worked on Kon, since he was a mod soul. Kon's comment about Isshin acting strange, then, might have been referring to whatever weird thing the memory replacer made him think had really happened.

But why point out to Ichigo that Isshin had been involved unless is was important somehow that he was there? Was the old man finally starting to be able to see ghosts or something?

Maybe. Something wasn't adding up there, but the hollow didn't really care enough to think too much about it anymore. He turned his attention back to Ichigo.

He was pleased to discover that he had been successful in breaking Ichigo's mental barriers down quite a lot during the school day and the walk home. In fact, the link seemed to be open even more than it had been at the beginning of the day, before Hirako had showed up. Focusing on Ichigo, the hollow listened carefully.

Sure enough, Ichigo's thoughts were coming through quite clearly, only barely obscured by the barriers still in place. Predictably, he was running Hirako's threats through his mind over and over, contemplating them.

'_Ichigo! Oi, Ichigo, you moron! Listen to me!_' the hollow yelled, trying to contact him again. Ichigo flinched slightly, but gave no other sign that he'd heard. Their link still wasn't completely open yet...

Slowly, Ichigo let out a sigh. "_I do hear it..._" he thought to himself sorrowfully.

The hollow blinked, tilting his head slightly as he listened in. What was he talking about...?

"_When I kicked _him_ out during the fight with Byakuya, that mask that kept coming back suddenly disappeared... And since then, I've been hearing that guy inside... calling out to me..._"

The hollow scowled. So Ichigo _had_ been able to hear him. The jerk.

"_The sound's been getting louder, too... Not day by day, but at a much faster rate than that..._"

Oh. He had heard, but he hadn't understood, hadn't been able to make out the actual words. Not that he'd actually been trying to. The hollow laughed. '_If you'd just _try_ to understand me, you could, idiot!_' he called again. '_You're making this harder than it has to be!_'

Ichigo's expression hardened, obviously hearing him and still refusing to comprehend the words.

Instead, he merely took the hollow's attempt as further confirmation of his previous thoughts, and he continued. "_Already, he's closer than he was earlier. I didn't even need Hirako to tell me. I already knew... if this keeps up... He'll devour me eventually..._"

The hollow let out a noise of frustration. '_You're hopeless!_' It was like watching a movie where the protagonist is about to run into some stupid trap, and yelling at the screen to try to make him stop, even though it's pointless. Sometimes, stupidity just can't be stopped...

Ichigo gripped the sheets of the bed under his hand, clenching his fist as tightly as he could. "_What am I going to do?_"

"Ichi-nii? Can I come in?" There was a knock at the door suddenly, startling Ichigo out of his thoughts. Before he could say anything, the door opened and Karin walked in, a serious expression on her face.

Ichigo quickly pushed himself up to a sitting position, trying hard to make it so that he didn't look nearly as worried as he felt. "Karin? What is it?"

She frowned at him. "I want you to tell me... Ichi-nii, what are you thinking about?"

After a split second of surprise at her question, Ichigo waved her off dismissively. "Why would you ask me that? There's nothing for you to worry about..."

"I already know," Karin interrupted him. "I... I already know that you're a Shinigami, Ichi-nii!"

Ichigo stared at her in shock. His mental barriers wavered. "_How could she know? What do I say? Maybe it was just a lucky guess? What do I tell her? Should I just blow it off? How... Why... What..._" Ichigo's thoughts were just a mess of blank confusion.

"W-What are you talking about?" he asked finally, plastering a fake smile on his face and forcing a laugh. "A Shinigami? Me? Don't be silly, Karin. I'm-"

"Stop acting stupid," she interrupted him again. "I _saw_ you, Ichi-nii, a long time ago. Wearing that black kimono and fighting those monsters..."

She gave him a level look, watching his reaction to this carefully as she waited for a response.

It was too much for Ichigo to deal with right now. The hollow laughed in joy as Ichigo's barriers shattered, unable to stay up with Ichigo's concentration so wild. Ichigo stared at his little sister, his mind in a whirled frenzy.

"_What am I supposed to say to that? Just admit that I've been lying to her, to everyone, this whole time? Is she mad at me? I can't tell. What am I supposed to say?!_"

When he didn't respond for several seconds, Karin awkwardly went on, looking down at the floor almost guiltily. "At... at first, I wasn't sure what I was seeing... But after hanging out with that weird Don Kanonji guy, I realized-"

She cut off suddenly as a huge wave of spirit energy crashed down on them, so powerful that the earth around them shook, as if an earthquake had just hit. Ichigo and Karin both looked up in alarm, facing towards the window to look in the direction the wave had come from.

The hollow grinned in excitement. Ichigo's Shinigami Representative Badge hadn't gone off, despite the earth-shaking reiatsu, so whatever this was, it wasn't a hollow. But he could feel the texture of it, and he knew Ichigo could too. It _felt_ mostly like a hollow, and it was definitely dangerous.

This was going to result in a fight, a _hard_ fight, and with the link to Ichigo already open this much, getting through to him was going to be _nothing_ once he started fighting!

Ichigo started forward towards the window. Before he could get very far, Karin stopped him, grabbing a hold of his shirt. "Ichi-nii, where are you going?"

He stared at her for a long moment, torn between doing the right thing for his sister and trying to explain everything to her, and the imminent threat to the entire town that the weird hollow-ish reiatsu represented.

Ichigo hesitated, and then his expression tightened almost in pain as he made his decision. "Sorry..."

He grabbed the Shinigami Representative badge from where it was hanging on his bedpost and sent a burst of spirit energy into it to activate it. He separated from his body and leapt out the window, not looking back and trying to ignore the guilt he felt for abandoning Karin with her questions.

Ichigo's delay cost him. By the time he got to the area where the strange not-hollows had crashed down in a park on the other side of town, he was too late to prevent injuries. Chad was already down, his arm in bad condition, and Inoue was trying her best to defend and heal him.

Some distance away, the source of the strange reiatsu was waiting; two figures, one human sized and the other almost twice that size. Both had human forms and, save for the large one's sheer size, could have passed as totally normal if it weren't for the pieces of cracked masks on their heads and the distinctive hollow holes in their chests. They definitely weren't hollows, but they weren't _not_ hollows, either.

As Ichigo got closer, running as fast as he could, he could hear the large not-hollow call back to the smaller one. "Oi, Ulquiorra! This one's got funky powers! Should I rip off its arms and legs and take it back to Aizen-sama?"

"No," the other answered coldly. "Unnecessary. Kill it."

Ichigo's scowl deepened and he put on more speed. The large one grinned and brought one giant hand down towards Inoue, intending to crush her with his open palm.

His hand met the tip of Ichigo's sword. Ichigo stood protectively in front of Inoue, trying to look calm so that his opponent wouldn't see just how fast he'd been running to get there in time.

"What the...? Who are you?" the large not-hollow demanded.

Ichigo ignored him, instead taking in his appearance and trying to assess his abilities. He was very big, much bigger than he'd seemed from far off, and so far, he seemed to be relying purely on the brute strength that this gave him. His reiatsu was still confusing, and the reason was made a little clearer by the sword sheathed at his waist, tucked into the black sash that held up his white hakama.

A hollow wielding a sword? And on second glance, the other smaller one seemed to have one too. Hollows didn't usually use weapons. Even if they weren't actual Shinigami zanpakutous, that was still rather strange.

Not that he was one to talk. The hollow smirked, thinking of Zangetsu sheathed on his own back.

Still, if they were Shinigami zanpakutous, it sort of explained their weird reiatsu, especially if they were working for that Aizen guy. Shinigami/hollow hybrids, created by that thing Urahara had made.

But not the same kind of Shinigami/hollow hybrid that he and Ichigo were, or even Hirako and his hollow. This reiatsu wasn't divided into two parts; rather, it was all blurred together into one entity. Mostly hollow, but with just enough of a Shinigami hint to make it muddy. Odd...

Inoue distracted them from their observations. "Kurosaki-kun..."

Ichigo glanced back at her over his shoulder. "Inoue. Sorry I'm late."

She looked guiltily over at where Chad was lying, her healing shields glowing yellow above his bloody right arm, and then over where Tatsuki was leaning unconscious against a nearby tree. Apparently, she'd gotten caught up in all of this, too. "I'm sorry, Kurosaki-kun... If only I were just a little stronger, then I..."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Inoue," Ichigo assured her, frowning at the fact that she seemed to be taking the blame for their injuries. "Don't worry. I'll flatten these two, and then that'll be the end of it!"

With that, he faced his opponent again. "Bankai!" He brought Zangetsu forward and sent spirit energy coursing through it, releasing his Bankai. "Tensa Zangetsu..."

Once the dust settled, he glanced back at Inoue, who was frozen in place, staring at him in awe. "Inoue... get back," he warned.

She blinked, startled, and then nodded hard, hurrying to Chad's side to continue healing him.

The large not-hollow looked surprised by Ichigo's actions. "Did you say Bankai? Oi, Ulquiorra! This guy..." he glanced back at his expressionless companion.

"Yes. Although it's hard to believe that he was drawn here merely from your banging around, there's no mistake. Orange hair, black Bankai... This is our target, Yammy."

Target? Aizen was targeting them? For what purpose?

The big not-hollow, who was apparently called Yammy, didn't give them much time to think about that. "Ha! Lucky! So, now we don't have to waste any more time lookin for ya!" He drew back one fist and swung down at Ichigo.

The punch was weak. Whatever this Yammy person was, he obviously greatly underestimated Ichigo's strength, because Ichigo only had to hold Zangetsu up lightly in front of himself to stop the blow.

"Chad's right arm... the one who did that to him was you, right?" Ichigo asked dangerously, already knowing the answer.

Yammy looked smug. "Yeah? What of it?"

Ichigo glared up at him. "You owe him your arm."

Before the not-hollow had a chance to react, Ichigo was already moving, using the speed of his Bankai to jump up onto his opponent's shoulder, flip over, and cut his arm completely off just above the elbow. He landed lightly behind him, and Yammy's arm hit the ground a split second later.

With a scream of rage, Yammy spun around, trying to swat Ichigo down with his other hand, but Ichigo just leapt nimbly out of the way, landing another blow on his shoulder as he did so. This guy was pretty strong, but he was _slow_.

Ichigo allowed himself a brief glance at the other not-hollow, Ulquiorra, to make sure he still wasn't going to attack. He wasn't; he still had both hands in his pockets, watching the scene boredly.

After stopping to catch his breath for a moment, looking shocked, Yammy growled at Ichigo. "You... you stupid brat!"

Ichigo just raised an eyebrow at him, leaning Zangetsu casually against his shoulder. "Wow. You're still standing. I guess you're at least a little tougher than I first thought..."

Ulquiorra finally allowed a touch of amusement to cross his face for a split second. "You look a bit worn out, Yammy. Want to switch?"

"Shut up!" Yammy yelled back at him. Angrily, he grabbed the hilt of the sword at his waist and began to unsheathe it.

Ulquiorra's expression didn't change. "You're going to use your zanpakutou against such a worthless opponent?"

"I said shut up!"

Ichigo's eyes widened at the word zanpakutou. "_What? So that thing he had sheathed there actually is a zanpakutou, then?_" He frowned. "_This guy's still not a problem; he can barely lift that sword with that arm... But still, an actual zanpakutou?_"

The hollow nodded to himself. That confirmed it, then...

"_Just what are these guys?_" Ichigo swallowed hard, obviously just starting to make the connection. "_Broken mask, hollow hole, and a zanpakutou... Are they the same as Hirako? ... And me?_"

The hollow laughed. '_So, you finally admit I'm here, huh? Oi, Ichigo! Let me deal with these guys! Switch with me!_' There. A nice, polite request instead of just taking control. And if Ichigo would just...

Ichigo nearly choked with surprise. "_No! He's back! Not again, not now!_"

Annoyed, the hollow pushed harder. '_I'm strong!_' he reasoned. '_I can wipe the floor with these guys if you just let me!_'

Ichigo pushed right back, raising one hand unconsciously to grip his face where the hollow was trying to force the mask to appear. "_No... Don't come! Disappear! Disappear! Disappear, disappear, disappear!_"

Unlike during the battle with Byakuya, the hollow was prepared to face Ichigo's resistance. He didn't like it, but he wasn't easily beaten down, either. '_Hey!_'

"_Disappear!_" Ichigo mentally slammed against him, trying to force him away. "_I'm... your..._"

The hollow wasn't sure he wanted to know what Ichigo had been about to say, but his other self was interrupted by Yammy's foot in his stomach, which sent him flying.

"Kurosaki-kun!" Inoue screamed at him, getting up and running towards him.

Ichigo's concentration was shattered again. Stumbling slightly in his attempt to stay on his feet, he turned to yell back at her. "Inoue, get back!"

Yammy hit him again while his back was turned, knocking him completely down to the ground. Inoue didn't stop running, and Yammy turned his attention to her with a grin. Easily, he backhanded her so hard that she went rolling along the grass, finally coming to a rest a few feet from where Chad was still lying. She didn't get up again.

"Inoue!"

"Shut up!"

Enraged, Ichigo leapt to his feet and raised Zangetsu, prepared to swing at Yammy's face. The hollow didn't even think; suddenly, he seized Ichigo's arms, cutting off the swing before it ever got close. Yammy took full advantage of the pause to knock Ichigo to his knees again.

The hollow grinned vindictively. Ichigo _needed_ a good beating for his stupidity right now, and if he couldn't do it himself, he'd let this Yammy guy do it for him!

Yammy was more than willing; with a laugh at Ichigo's sudden unresponsiveness, he pounded down on Ichigo again and again with his one remaining hand.

Ichigo struggled against the hollow's hold, trying to get his limbs to move again. "_Wha... why can't I...?_"

The hollow cackled. '_Why do you think, moron?!_'

Ichigo's heart sank. "_I rejected you, and now you're trying to get in the way?_" he choked out bitterly. "_I'm _not_ letting you come out this time!_"

The hollow seethed in anger, tightening his hold on Ichigo's arms and trying to take further control as well. '_You jerk! You complete jerk! This is _your_ fault!_'

"Ha! I don't get what's going on, but suddenly he's stopped moving!" Yammy laughed. He continued pounding on Ichigo, seeming to take great pleasure in beating on someone who wasn't fighting back. "Die, then! Die, you stupid brat!"

The hollow continued to yell at Ichigo, ignoring the increasing strength with which Ichigo was pushing him off. '_'I'm your'? You're my what? My _master_? My _ruler_? Just because you happen to be in control right now? Look at yourself! You're pathetic! You jerk! Idiot!_'

Finally, Yammy either got bored or decided that Ichigo was finished being a good punching bag. "Heh, heh. It's over, brat! I'll make you disappear in an instant!"

He drew his fist back, preparing for a final blow.

Ichigo looked up at him briefly, and the hollow took the chance to watch the oncoming attack critically.

Nah, this wouldn't kill him. Hurt him a lot, but not kill. He didn't let go. Wincing, Ichigo braced himself for the hit as best as he could with several of his limbs completely locked up.

Yammy's fist never even got close. It was stopped several feet away by a misty red shield.

Ichigo looked up in wonder to find Urahara standing over him, his sword out and pointed in Yammy's direction.

The hollow smirked, reminded of the pose Ichigo himself had taken in front of Inoue just earlier. '_Rescued by the Sandal-hat guy. Figures. That's just sad, Ichigo._'

Well, there was no point in holding on any more. With Urahara here, as far as Ichigo was concerned, this fight was over.

The hollow released Ichigo's arms and dropped back down to the sideways world, ducking a retaliatory wave of energy from Ichigo as he did so.

There, he fell to his hands and knees, breathing hard and trying to ignore the increasingly heavy rain. Once again, the encounter had taken far more out of him than he had expected or cared to admit.

He almost wanted to just collapse there and rest for a while, but instead he struggled back to his feet, looking around until he spotted Zangetsu a short distance away in his usual spot. There was something he had to do first...

Zangetsu looked up at him as he approached, his expression carefully neutral. "You lost your temper."

The hollow snorted angrily. "Hard not to with his royal majesty out there mucking everything up!" he defended himself. "That idiot has no idea what he's doing!"

"Perhaps," Zangetsu admitted. "Do you?"

"Better than _he_ does!" the hollow retorted.

"You wanted to talk to me?"

The hollow sighed, and then held his hand out to Zangetsu. "I failed to make the rain stop. And there is no longer a chance to make Ichigo change his mind. My hope of that is gone. I've only got two options left: I do what Ichigo wants and fade into non-existence, or I fight for full control. You know which one I choose."

Zangetsu blinked slowly at the hollow's outstretched hand, and then looked up at his face. "And?"

"The rain's only going to get worse from here on out," the hollow explained impatiently, waving his hand a little. "But it's not raining in _my_ mental world. Or your mental world. Or whatever it is."

Zangetsu raised an eyebrow at him. "You seek to hide the source of Ichigo's power from him," he observed.

"He's not using it anyway," the hollow reasoned with a smirk. "He hasn't called on you since _before_ the rain started."

Zangetsu sighed, but he smiled. Reaching up, he took the hollow's hand. "Thank you."

The hollow grinned as Zangetsu began to dissolve. "I'll let you out when the rain stops again, Zangetsu-san," he promised.

"Thank you," Zangetsu said again. He closed his eyes as he disappeared from the sideways world.

"... My pleasure, Zangetsu-san..." the hollow replied softly to the empty air.

For a moment, the hollow stood there catching his breath as the rain pounded across on him. Then, he turned and looked up at the sky with a smirk, yelling up in Ichigo's direction.

"Okay, 'King'! I tried to make this work for both of us, and you wouldn't let me! So, guess what? Now, I'm going to be _exactly_ the kind of monster you were afraid of me being! This is war, now!"

There was no response... But then, he hadn't honestly expected one... Ichigo's barriers were up again.

* * *

END

... Um. I don't know what to say. XD It's done! Yay!

Okay, some explanations, though there's not a whole lot that you probably haven't already guessed.

Basically, this is just how I've always seen Ichigo's hollow. Watching the fight with Byakuya, this bit here with the Arrancar, and especially Ichigo's fight against his hollow during Vaizard training... They mostly just left me feeling confused about Ichigo's actions and thinking he's a really big idiot. XD As has been expressed here many times.

So, when I started getting reviews on Feeling Hollow saying, "Oh, no! What's that evil Hichigo plotting this time?" Well, I thought I'd made that fairly clear.

XD Now I definitely have. 33,000+ words, omg. This wasn't meant to become this long. And it took me a while to write, too. I started it in early October. Finished writing it end of December, and am finally getting it posted end of February.

... I almost want to go through each scene and make commentary here, but I shall refrain. I need to learn to keep my author notes short. XD Instead I shall merely state that I had a lot of fun writing this. It took lots and lots of time both looking up the episodes and manga for the scenes, writing in my notebook both at home and on the bus to and from work, and then typing it up on the computer... but it was worth it, I think.

There were quite a few scenes and pieces of scenes that weren't really necessary to the storyline in this thing. The random bit with Ikkaku, for example, or pointless speculation about Isshin. (Nobody _assumes_ that Isshin is a Shinigami. Nobody.) So there was a lot that I debated taking out purely for length reasons... but eventually, I changed my mind and left it all there. So, I'm sorry it's so long. D=

Oh, almost forgot to mention: Any time you have a person who is technically also a sword, you're going to end up with sword puns. It's just unavoidable. XD You know; "Zangetsu looked at him sharply", or "Zangetsu had a point." Virtual cookies to anyone who can tell me how many sword puns I accidentally used in this story. Yes, I do know how many there are. I counted. XD

Everybody give a really really really really really really really big thank you to my beta reader, B/k! If it weren't for her...................... (who knows what the story would look like...). =D

So, this is the end of the story. Actually, it's the beginning. From here, this story could lead into _any_ other story I ever write about Ichigo's hollow because, again, this is just simply his past to me. Which is why I say that Hollow Feelings isn't technically a prequel to Feeling Hollow.

...

BUT, if you _do_ think of it as leading into Feeling Hollow... Well...

* * *

**Epilogue**

"_Hey, hollow? I know Byakuya already kind of asked you this, but... what's your name?_"

A week had passed since the hollow declared open war on Ichigo. Since then, he had continued fighting hard, gaining strength, and scaring Ichigo as often as he could to make him lose his hold.

Then, a series of strange events had occurred. Ichigo had lost his temper during a fight, actually threw the hollow into control (albeit somewhat accidentally) and the hollow had been able to finish the fight for him.

After that, there was no reason to stay in control. The battle was over, and although Ichigo seemed to hesitate in trying to wrestle control back, there was no doubt that he was about to. The hollow wanted to make sure he was strong enough to completely overpower him before he fought with him again.

Besides, Ichigo's reaction to the hollow simply handing his body back to him was totally priceless.

And it hadn't stopped there. The hollow could hardly believe his luck when Ichigo finally started realizing that, hollow or not, he was a normal, intelligent being. Then, he had wandered around most of the day trying to decide on a place to go where he could talk to him in peace. Not really necessary, but good to take precautions, he supposed.

The hollow wasn't about to get his hopes up or anything, but...

He pulled himself up out of the mental world so that he could talk to Ichigo more easily, folding his arms in irritation and answering Ichigo's pointless question. '_I'll give you the same answer I gave him: "I ain't got a name." You should already know that._'

A name... Of all the things Ichigo could have asked him, and he wanted to know a name?

"_Well, what do you want me to call you, then?_" Ichigo grumbled in annoyance. "_I can't just keep saying 'hollow' over and over..._"

The hollow laughed. '_That's what I am, dimwit._'

"_But it's not a name! Everybody needs something to be called!_"

The hollow rolled his eyes as Ichigo hotly reminded him about the name they gave Kon instead of just calling him Mod Soul. As if he didn't know that already.

But the hollow had already given up his name a long time ago. And with the idiotic things Ichigo had been doing with it, he wasn't sure he wanted it back, either.

'_And what a great name you gave him, too,_' he said dryly in response to Ichigo's rant. '_An abbreviation of kaizo konpaku, or modified soul. How original. _So_ much better than _just_ Mod Soul._'

Ichigo scowled. "_Shut up. I never said I was good at giving people names. Just that you need one._"

'_Listen, Ichigo,_' the hollow smirked. '_The only person who will ever have need to call me anything is you, and I honestly don't care what you call me._'

Ichigo paused, thinking about that. Eventually, he decided on a response. "_Fine, if you won't give me something to call you, then _I'll_ give you a name... What about Hichigo?_"

The hollow snorted. He wasn't going to give up on this, was he? '_That's the most original thing you could come up with? Adding an 'h' to the beginning of your own name?_'

Ichigo shrugged. "_Well, you're basically a hollow version of me, so take the 'h' from hollow, and-_"

'_I get it._' The hollow rolled his eyes with a smirk. It actually wasn't _that_ bad of a name. It was Ichigo without actually being Ichigo. It would work. '_Are you done, yet?_'

"_No._"

'_You're a stubborn idiot, Ichigo._'

Ichigo ignored that and asked another question. "_You know, Hichigo, this entire time, you've done nothing but insult me. Why do you hate me so much?_"

'_Why do I hate you?_' Hichigo repeated, incredulous. As if there was only one reason! He laughed. '_Isn't it obvious?_'

Annoyed, Ichigo frowned. "_Maybe to you, but mind explaining it to me?_"

He didn't realize... He _honestly_ didn't _realize_... Hichigo shook his head with a sigh. '_I keep forgetting how stupid you are._'

Why did he hate Ichigo? It wasn't that hard of a question to answer. There were a million reasons.

Ichigo was stupid. He didn't see things that were right in front of his face, sometimes not even when other people pointed them out to him.

He was stubborn. He was quick to jump to conclusions, whether they were right or not, and then he would refuse to change his mind even when he was proven wrong.

He was arrogant and self-righteous, which was partly why he _was_ so stubborn. Everything he did was to 'protect' those around him, which made anything he did acceptable. Just more excuses...

He was insensitive and quick to forget that the people around him had feelings. He did it to Chad, telling him to stay back so he wouldn't get hurt. He did it to Zangetsu, never calling on him for help unless he was given a harsh reminder, or if he was near death again.

The main reason, though, the reason that topped them all, was also the simplest one. Hichigo had _trusted_ him, had believed that Ichigo would trust him back. A stupid hope, he could see now.

Ichigo had torn apart any possibility of trust between them a long time ago. Even if Ichigo was actually talking to him now, even if this somehow resulted in the two of them cooperating, there would never be trust any more.

Ichigo wanted to know why he hated him. But Hichigo would never admit now that he'd ever attempted to be partners with him. He had failed, and Ichigo had been the reason he'd failed; bringing it up now would only embarrass both of them.

Why did he hate him? There _was_ a quick and easy answer. One that didn't require long explanations. One that even an idiot like Ichigo could understand.

The King was weak.


	6. Farewell Swords

**_SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!_**

Eh heh... So, when the latest manga chapters came out (Approximately chapter 420-ish), I just couldn't help but to come up with a from-hollow's-point-of-view version of the events... Hence, this.

Consequently, if you haven't read up to that point, this will make absolutely no sense. And it will also be hugely spoiler-tastic. Seriously; I wouldn't even let my best friend read this till she'd gotten caught up on reading the chapters.

I debated for a really long time after I wrote this as to what I was going to actually do with it. It doesn't really fit with the rest of Hollow Feelings, technically, because I don't have any of the in-between stuff written. (Ichigo's battle with his hollow, the stuff during various parts of the Ulquiorra battle, etc.) I do have some vague ideas of how I'd want to write a hollow-POV version of those events, I just haven't done it yet since I have tons of other projects...

But anyway. Because of that, I debated submitting this as part of my idea-dump collection... but it doesn't fit there either, as it's kind of a complete idea on its own, if you ignore the fact that it's written with my interpretation of Ichigo's hollow (Though even considering that, he's a little too passive here to really be in character. Oh well.) So I also debated putting it up on its own as a one-shot... But finally, obviously, I decided that as a hollow-POV of canon events scene, it fit best with the rest of my hollow-POV of canon scenes.

I also debated just letting it sit and gather dust on my hard drive until I finally got around to writing the in-between scenes, but ultimately decided that I needed to put something up, since I haven't updated anything in forever again. I am still working on everything, honest! I'm just slow...

So, here you go. Enjoy, and try not to cry. T_T

* * *

"_Zangetsu-san... If he uses that technique, you will die._"

The zanpakutou spirit didn't answer him, but the hollow knew that he had to have heard. The two of them were currently merged, after all. They knew each other, _were_ each other, enough to both fight Ichigo together, as they'd been doing for what seemed like forever now.

They knew each other; which meant that everything Zangetsu knew, the hollow knew too. Including a certain 'final Getsuga Tenshou' that the zanpakutou was refusing to teach to Ichigo. Including all of its drawbacks.

"_You don't care, do you._" It wasn't a question. He already knew. "_You're going to give in eventually. You're going to teach it to him anyway._"

"_I will protect that which I have sworn to protect,_" Tensa Zangetsu finally responded, his young voice quiet but firm.

The hollow frowned. "_Even if it means never being able to protect him ever again after this?_"

Once again, the zanpakutou had nothing to say.

For another eternity, the two of them fought Ichigo, one on one. It was actually kind of amusing, noting the way his other self's hair kept getting in his eyes now that they'd been fighting so long. They really had been going at it forever, hadn't they?

Still, eventually Ichigo would figure out the key to the battle. It really wasn't that hard to get, and once he did, it would all be over.

"_Zangetsu-san..._" Another thought had been bothering the hollow quite a bit during the battle, and now that it seemed to be drawing to a close, he finally brought it up. "_I'll die too, won't I?_"

Their merged face tightened, but the zanpakutou said nothing. Of course, the hollow knew his answer anyway.

"_I'll die because we're joined together. If we weren't, I would be a part of him more than a part of you and I wouldn't die._"

The zanpakutou's voice hardened with resolve. "_I live to protect that which is most important to me._"

"_Ichigo._" The hollow couldn't help the bitter tone. If they weren't merged when Ichigo used the technique, then only Zangetsu would die. At that point, the hollow would be much stronger than the purely human Ichigo. He could easily become King, and nothing Ichigo could do would change that.

In the end, the zanpakutou had chosen to side with his Shinigami rather than with him.

"_That isn't it._" Tensa Zangetsu scolded lightly. "_Look deeper._"

With a frown, the hollow thought further. If he lived, he'd be able to take over...

But then his body would be that of a hollow. He would have no allies, and would immediately be surrounded by enemies, with no good escape routes. And he would be far weaker than he'd ever been before without the zanpakutou he'd relied on so long.

Ichigo's enemies would attack him, Ichigo's allies would attack him, and even Zangetsu would, of course, be gone. He would be alone—then he'd be dead. Zangetsu's sacrifice would result in death for all of them; protection for none of them.

Whereas with this route, both hollow and zanpakutou would disappear. Ichigo would be left completely defenseless, but not alone; not unprotected. Not with his friends around to guard him.

The hollow sighed. "_And you have to protect at least one of us._"

Zangetsu nodded calmly, sounding solemn. "_You are correct; I cannot protect either of you once this is over._ _So I must choose the path that promises the best outside protection, even if only for him._"

But either way, he would die. They both would die.

He supposed that logically he should be angry about that, but somehow, all he felt was a numb, grim acceptance. When had life ever been fair to him?

For another long moment, they fought in silence. Ichigo had started to slow now, possibly because his sword had actually snapped in half several blows back. But despite that, there was a look of soft, almost sad determination in his eyes that the hollow had never seen there before. He had probably guessed why Zangetsu wasn't teaching him the technique, hated the idea, but had accepted that it was the only way. Just as Zangetsu himself had.

The hollow made one last, feeble attempt. "_And if you simply refuse to give him the technique?_"

"_If I do not,_" Zangetsu told him gently, "_We will all die fighting Aizen Sousuke._"

The hollow knew that already. Knew it and hated it.

Zangetsu and the hollow moved together one last time. Ichigo stopped fighting, turning and facing them full on as they approached. Then, he simply cast away the broken remains of his blade and let their attack hit him.

Their eyes went wide as the sword pierced Ichigo straight through the chest.

A long moment passed. Then, Zangetsu swallowed hard. "That's correct, Ichigo. The final Getsuga Tenshou isn't acquired by accepting my blade..."

But by the opposite: Throwing it away.

"It... doesn't hurt," Ichigo commented softly.

"Of course it doesn't." Zangetsu kept their head lowered. "Tensa Zangetsu is you. Why would it hurt you?" He wasn't referring merely to the blade.

This was it. It was all over.

"... _Zangetsu-san... I don't want you to die._"

"_I know._"

"_... I don't want to die, either._"

"... _I know._"

A single tear ran down their face, and neither of them could say whose fault it was.

"Why... are you crying?"

Zangetsu still didn't look up. "Do you remember what I told you at the start? That what I wanted to protect was not the same as what you wanted to protect?" Ichigo nodded uncertainly. "What I wanted to protect... was you, Ichigo."

Slowly, a horrible sense of understanding spread across the orange-haired teen's face. "You mean..."

With a nod, Zangetsu confirmed the thing they'd all been dreading. "Ichigo... If you use this technique... You will lose all of your Shinigami powers."

As he let that sink in, the zanpakutou looked up, trying to give his Shinigami one last, encouraging look. Ichigo had a stricken expression on his face, but they all knew he would do what he needed to.

Gently, Zangetsu sent him off.

"Farewell, Ichigo..." Zangetsu said softly as the teen left them behind forever.

The hollow smirked, one final time."_Thanks to us, you'll get one good shot, Ichigo. Don't you dare miss._"


End file.
